Recipe for Disaster
by FloatYourBoat21
Summary: After watching an innocent episode of Chopped, Brittany can't seem to get the mysterious contestant Santana out of her head. Feeling as if this elusive stranger is actually someone she once knew quite well, Brittany sets out to discover why the beautiful Latina is not currently a part of her life. AU Brittana, multi-chapter fic.
1. Beautiful Stranger

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 1: Beautiful Stranger**

"Lindsay! What the hell is taking you so long?" I shout from the kitchen while grabbing a drink.

"Sorry… just give me a few minutes," she replies back.

I swear… if Lindsay wasn't my little sister, I wouldn't put up with this crap. Without fail though, she always manages to come up with some excuse as to why she is never ready on time.

For the first time in months, I finally have the weekend off. You would think since I am my own boss, I would be able to make my own schedule, but sadly... no. Being only 26 and the owner of the best dance studio in Lima meant that I was always in high demand. Parents loved me and loved having me personally teach their children. It's great to get that kind of feedback.

It's always nice to know that you've had a positive effect on someone's life. Don't get me wrong… I love my job. If I'm being honest though, teaching isn't my biggest passion. I once had bigger hopes and dreams for myself, but unfortunately sometimes life throws you a curve ball. You can either move out of the way or be hit by it… I like to think I ended up somewhere in the middle, but that's a story for another time.

"Linds… the movie starts in like 15 minutes," I state while walking into the living room and plopping down the couch. "You know how much I hate missing the previews."

"I know, I know… I'm sorry Britt," she answers back. "I got a little distracted."

"By what?" I inquire. "I called you over an hour ago so you would have plenty of time to do whatever it is you do before I came to pick you up."

"Geez Britt, you act like we can't see the movie at a later time," Lindsay says exasperated.

"Obviously I know that, but we kinda had other stuff planned for the day," I answer back feeling a bit more irritated that usual. "Seriously, what have you been doing for the past hour?"

"I was watching _Cupcake Wars_, okay?!" Lindsay responds loudly. "I know I'm a terrible sister, especially when it comes to baked goods. Hello, my name is Lindsay… I'm easily distracted by sweets!"

"Okay, okay… you can quit with the dramatics," I reply sarcastically. Unfortunately, that is a very true statement. Had I known that from the beginning, I could've saved myself the headache. I guess it's expected when you're dealing with a 17 year old.

I finally look at the muted TV and see that it's still on the Food Network channel. Lindsay's favorite show has been over for a while because it looks like the episode of _Chopped_ that is currently on is almost over. As I look around for the remote to un-mute the TV while I'm waiting, my eyes are met with the most beautiful sight once I look back up at the screen.

The girl on the TV has caramel-colored skin, ebony-colored hair, and the most incredible smile that I've ever seen. I mean, seriously… her little dimple may have only flashed for just a second, but it was adorable. She looks to be around my age too. As I blindly look for the remote with my hands because I can't take my eyes off of this beautiful Latina, I can't help but feel like I know this girl. I feel like her face is so familiar, but I can't place her. Finally, I find the remote and un-mute the TV where my ears are met with the sexiest voice I've ever heard. Her voice is so raspy and also _so_ familiar. I have no idea what she's even saying because I'm so enthralled by this seemingly complete stranger. Whatever she's saying though… I like it.

I've always felt pretty fluid when it comes to my sexuality. I appreciate the different forms of men and women. I don't judge, nor do I care which sex you are. I like people for who they are and not based on which bathroom they use. Although I've never dated a girl before, at least not to my knowledge, I've never been so mesmerized by a female like I am right now. To be honest, I haven't dated much at all… at least nothing serious.

"Alright, I'm finally ready… let's go," Lindsay says. I'm not trying to be rude and ignore her, but I feel like I'm almost in a trance that I can't break free from. "Hello… earth to Brittany."

After getting no response, I feel a light slap to my arm.

"Huh?" I finally say, pausing the TV.

"You've been hounding me for the past few minutes about getting ready and now that I am… it's you who's slowing us down now," Lindsay states with a smirk.

"Yeah, yeah… whatever. Does she look familiar to you?" I ask her, looking back at the screen shot of the mysterious Latina.

"Uh, I don't know… maybe?" Lindsay responds. "Why, who is she?"

"I don't know, but I have this weird feeling like I know her… or that I'm supposed to," I reply.

"Whoa… that's kinda deep Britt," she says playfully. "Let's find out who she is then…"

I guess the expression on my face said "_WTF"_ because I had no idea on how to find out who this woman was.

"Give me the remote," Lindsay says rather than asks. Before I could even respond, she had already taken the remote from my hand.

"What are you doing?" I question.

"Well… since this is the end of the show and she's the only chef I see, I'm assuming that she won," Lindsay starts off. I give her a questioning look because I'm still not following her logic. "I'm gonna rewind it back a little so that we can get a name…"

"Oh, okay…" I state dumbly. _Why didn't I think of that?_

As Lindsay rewinds the TV back to about a minute before, I see the other contestant walking away with their head down. I guess they were really upset about losing. Lindsay finally gets to a reasonable spot to hit play.

"… and that means, Chef Santana… you are the _Chopped_ champion!" Ted says.

_Santana_… that's a beautiful name. It seems very fitting. As Ted makes his announcement, I see a quick smile appear on Santana's face. _There goes that cute little dimple again._

"So… what do you plan on doing with that $10,000?" Ted inquires.

After wiping away a few stray tears, Santana finally answers.

"My mom's from Puerto Rico… she hasn't been back there since she was a little kid," Santana starts off. "I want to take her on a vacation cuz she's always supported me and has been there for me through _the _hardest time in my life," she says, her voice breaking a little.

My heart immediately goes out to her. I have no idea what hardships she's had to endure in her life, but I kinda wish that she was here so that I could hug her or something.

"I think you're right… she does seem very familiar," Lindsay says, breaking me away from my thoughts. "I'm gonna start the episode from the beginning, that way we can get a little more information on her.

I nod my head and silently watch as Lindsay restarts the episode. The movie that we were planning on seeing has long been forgotten. I'm suddenly much more interested in this Santana person and I don't exactly know why. It almost feels as if there is an imaginary string connected between us, pulling me closer towards her. I don't know what this feeling is, but I'm not questioning it. Besides, Lindsay appears to be intrigued as well. Nothing like sisterly bonding.

"4 competitors think they have what it takes to be the _Chopped_ champion… let's meet them," Ted's voice says through the speakers. I guess Lindsay skipped the intro of the show. "… and finally, Chef Santana Lopez…"

As Santana walks down the _Chopped_ hallway, her voice-over kicks in.

"I'm the Executive Chef and Owner of Maribel's in Los Angeles, CA. I specialize in Italian cuisine, but every once in a while I'll draw from my Puerto Rican heritage," Santana starts off. "Cooking has always been a hobby of mine, but I never thought about doing it professionally until a few years ago."

As she continues to speak, footage of her in her daily life plays on the screen. She looks so fierce in the kitchen. I'm not gonna lie… it's kinda hot!

"Sometimes tragedies happen and you eventually just have to cope with it and move on or become stagnant and let it slowly eat away at you…" she continues. "I chose the former and now I'm one of the youngest chefs to own and cook at a 4-star restaurant. I wanna win _Chopped_ for my mom!"

As Santana takes her place at the last station, Lindsay and I watch as the countdown begins. Some of those basket ingredients were awfully strange while others were just downright disgusting. No matter the obstacle though, Santana handled each basket like a champ. She had so much finesse and creativity that the judges were completely blown away. I'm starving just looking at the amazing food she was able to create in such little time.

"So, what brings you here today?" Amanda asks.

"My mom… she's been my inspiration through all of this, hence the name of my restaurant," Santana replies. "There was a point in time when I just wanted to give up and lost hope in everything, but my mom was right there to guide me through my darkest hours. If I win today, it would be awesome to be able to do something nice for her since she's the reason why I became a chef."

"That's very moving," Marc states.

"I'm sure whatever happens, your mom is gonna be so proud of you!" Scott adds in.

A very small smile appears on Santana's face as she tries to hold back a tear from falling from her obvious watery eyes.

* * *

After we finish watching the episode, Lindsay hops off the couch and darts into her room. Less than a minute later, she returns with what appears to be a book in her hands.

"What's that?" I question.

"It's your yearbook from Senior year," she states while sitting back down on the couch, thumbing through the pages.

"I didn't know I even had a yearbook," I mumble. "Wait… where'd you get that from?"

"I actually forgot I had it," Lindsay starts. "I think I found it in the trash bin in the office _years_ ago."

_Who throws away yearbooks_, I ponder to myself.

As Lindsay continues to flip through pages, she finally lands on one.

"A-ha! I knew it!" she exclaims. "Santana Lopez, Class of 2005… you went to school with her Britt."

I guess that would explain why she looked and sounded so familiar.

As Lindsay continues to explore the blast from the past, she stops at a page near the back where there is a photograph acting as a bookmark. I look at the photo and see me, Santana, and 2 other people. There's another female about my complexion with shorter blonde hair and hazel eyes. Then, there's a guy next to her that appears to have a dead animal on top of his head. We're all wearing shirts that say _"Loose Change"_ and appear to be very happy. It looks like we were some kind of band or something.

As I study the picture, I can't help but notice the closeness between me and Santana. We both look so happy and carefree. It's a nice sight to see, especially since I haven't really felt that way in a very long time.

"I guess we were friends…" I state casually.

"Looks like you guys were BFFs… look at what she wrote," Lindsay responds.

As I read the inscription Santana wrote for me, I can't help but be moved and feel a little sad. Here, I'm reading how important I am to this girl, yet I can't remember her. I wish I could remember her… I _want_ to remember her. Technically, my lack of memory isn't my fault. But still…

"I found the other 2 mystery people… " Lindsay states, flipping through the yearbook once again. "The girl is Quinn Fabray and the dude is Noah Puckerman. It looks like you all were pretty tight in high school."

I simply nod my head. With every new bit of information we discover, I can't help but be even more intrigued and adamant about finding out anything and everything about one _Ms. Santana Lopez._

* * *

Later on that night, after me and Lindsay decided to take a break from playing detective, I sat down to a nice home-cooked meal with my family. Although I was enjoying time with my family, my mind was still elsewhere, stuck on a particular Latina. Eventually, curiosity got the best of me.

"Hey Mom, do you remember a girl named Santana?" I asked. For a second, it seemed like my mother tensed up at the sound of Santana's name.

"No honey… that name doesn't ring a bell," she replies quickly, not looking at me. "Do you want some more potatoes?"

"Yeah… sure," I respond. I debated on asking her further questions, but I decided not to push the issue.

After dinner, Lindsay and I went to her room to continue with our investigation. As I struggled to comprehend the weirdness that just happened, Lindsay did a little recon on Facebook.

"Was it just me or were Mom and Dad acting strange?" I pondered out loud.

"No, it definitely wasn't just you," she responds. "After you mentioned Santana's name, the whole mood at the table change. Mom and Dad kept looking at each other…"

Lindsay was right. I did catch my parents looking at each other with wide eyes for a split second. It's odd that they wouldn't remember Santana, especially since it appears that we were best friends in high school. I don't know, maybe something bad happened between us and we stopped being friends. Maybe my parents just didn't want to dredge up old memories that might hurt my feelings. Either way, I still find it weird that they would pretend not to know her at all. I guess that's why I decided to drop the subject, especially after it seemed like my mom was very eager to change the topic.

"Let's see… Santana doesn't have a Facebook, but this Quinn girl does," Lindsay states after a few minutes. "It's set to private though, but it does say that she lives in New York."

"I used to live in New York, right?" I ask her, trying to remember.

"Yeah…" Lindsay trails off. "You went to school there for a couple of years… before the accident."

Oh, right… _the accident._

* * *

I don't remember much about the car accident, just really what my family and some other people have told me. It happened during the summer, right before Junior year. I think I was 20 at the time and attending Julliard on a scholarship. On that particular night, I don't remember where I was going or who I was with, but apparently I was a passenger in a car that got T-boned by some idiot who can't drive worth a shit. Sorry… I still get a little angry and frustrated when I think about the whole ordeal.

That accident changed my life... completely.

From what my parents told me, I was in a coma for about a week. I had sustained multiple injuries, including a broken pelvis, a broken leg, a broken arm, and a couple of broken ribs. Basically, I got _fucked_… and not in the good way! Anyways, I also suffered from a traumatic brain injury. Once I woke up from the coma, I could only remember certain things, like my family and my childhood. Everything that happened in my life after middle school was lost. Till this day, I still can't remember. The doctors called it retrograde memory loss, or something fancy like that. They said in most cases, the memory loss is only brief. However, in some unusual cases… the loss can be permanent. I guess I turned out to be one of those unlucky bastards.

After the accident, my parents moved me back here to Lima to take care of me, especially since I couldn't take care of myself. It took a while for me to fully recover and get back to the point where I could actually dance again. Although I was happy to be dancing again, I knew my skill level would never be as good as it was before that unfortunate night. Because of that, I had to settle. Instead of going back to Julliard, I stayed here and got into the dance program at Ohio State. While I was attending school, I also worked full-time at the dance studio that I now own. I had been taking lessons there since I was like 3 so I knew the previous owner very well. Once she decided to sell the studio and enjoy her retirement, she told me that I was always her number one pick.

I still get bitter at times when I think about my lost potential. Sure… I'm still a pretty amazing dancer, but sometimes I hate the fact that I'm not where I'm supposed to be. Before the accident, I apparently had several dance companies approaching me about joining them. I don't remember any of it, just what I always dreamed of when I was a kid. I always wanted to be some big-shot choreographer that worked with the best musicians. I wanted to travel the world, planning intricate choreography for their tours that I knew everyone would love. I had such high expectations for myself and according to everyone else I talked to… I was definitely on my way to my dreams.

Unfortunately… life doesn't always turn out the way we plan.

* * *

"Brittany… are you even listening to me?" Lindsay says, waving her hand in front of my face. I guess I must've spaced out.

"Uh, yeah… sorry. What were you saying?" I ask.

"I said that Mohawk guy's profile is open to the public," Lindsay starts again. "He's got a lot of pics on here with Santana. It looks like they both live in LA."

As I look through this Puck guy's profile, I can't help but notice the closeness between the 2 of them. Initially, I felt a little jealous. I'm not sure why though. As I scrolled through more pictures, I could see the bond between him and Santana. It wasn't one that seemed romantic though… more family-oriented. In a majority of the pics, it looked like Puck was very protective over Santana. On one of pictures where they look like they were playing foosball, the caption below read "Me and Santana dominating!" Below that were several comments, one in which Puck responded saying _"Yea, I'm her brotha from another motha… hahaha". _I smiled at the sight, seeing Santana in a relaxed state and seemingly happy.

"Whatcha thinkin' about sis?" Lindsay asks.

"I don't know… I just feel like I need to know more about this girl," I reply honestly. "How come you don't remember anything about her?"

"Uh, probably because I was like 10 at the time and didn't know my head from my ass…" she responds. I bust out laughing. "I have an idea…"

"And what would that be?" I question.

"Well… you know how UCLA is one of the schools I'm interested in?" Lindsay inquires. I nod my head and slightly raise my eyebrow, trying to figure out where she's going with this. "I know we weren't supposed to go visit the campus until summer, but what if we went this week since I'm on Spring Break?"

"Um, okay…" I state dumbly, still confused. "I guess we could do that… I've got some money saved up."

Lindsay shakes her head at me, probably because I'm still not getting it.

"While we're there, I was thinking we could try some Italian food at this little place called _Maribel's…_"

_Oh, I see…_ the light bulb finally went off in my head.

"That's genius Linds!" I exclaim.

"I know…" she replies, smugly.

"Do you think that Mom and Dad will let you go on such short notice?" I ask.

"I am almost 18 and it's not like I'll be going alone," she states. "Really, all I have to do is give them the "Pierce pout" and they won't be able to say no to their youngest offspring."

It's true… being the youngest of the family, Lindsay usually always got what she wanted. Luckily for my parents, she wasn't that difficult. She usually reserved our trademark pout for special occasions.

"I guess we're going to LA then!" I state excitedly.

I have no idea what's gonna happen when I see Santana in person, but hopefully she'll remember me and maybe we can build a new friendship from there. A girl can only hope.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

What's up guys? So, here it is… the new story! I hope you guys enjoy it as much as my other stories. I haven't abandoned You and Me. I still have some ideas left for that story before it's complete, but the updates are probably not going to be as quick as when I first started writing it. Don't worry though, the updates will still be out in a reasonable amount of time as I write this story too. As always, thanks again for reading, following, reviewing, and adding me to your favorites list… it really does mean a lot! (Btw… all mistakes are my own).

Til next time,

-Kris

**Disclaimer:**

I do **NOT** own Fox, Glee, or any of its characters. I also don't own the Food Network or any of its programs… I'm just an avid lover of _Chopped!_


	2. There She Goes

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 2: There She Goes**

_Santana…_

Her face, her hair, her eyes, her smile, _those_ lips… it's all I've been able to think about since yesterday afternoon. I'm so captivated by everything that makes this woman who she is and _so_ very eager to learn even more about her.

After Lindsay and I talked about how we were gonna convince our parents to let us go to LA on such short notice, Lindsay went in for the kill while I offered to clean up the kitchen. It didn't take long for their resolve to completely vanish, especially after Linds started going on and on about UCLA's academic program and how she couldn't wait to get there and expand her knowledge. Honestly, it was like taking candy from a baby.

Once our parents agreed to let us go, me and Lindsay spent the rest of the night planning our road trip. We considered flying to LA instead since it's like a 33 hour drive, but we figured we could use the time to do some bonding and figure out a game plan on what exactly I'm gonna do when I see Santana for the first time in years. I thought it would be pretty awesome to stop in Las Vegas along the way, but my mom vetoed that idea with a quickness. Instead, we opted to stop in Utah to spend the night and then finish the rest of our journey the following day.

After we mapped out the driving portion, we finally went to sleep and decided to spend part of today doing some last minute shopping for more California-appropriate clothing and snacks. Of course, we had to make some kick ass mixes to sing along to. No road trip is complete without an ultimate playlist! Once we got home from our shopping extravaganza, we spent the remainder of the evening packing.

During a portion of the packing, my mom pulled me aside and asked why we had spontaneously decided to make the trip to LA now instead of when we had originally planned for this summer. Lindsay had already explained our reasons previously, but I guess my mom wanted to hear it from my mouth as well. I simply told her that the sooner Lindsay decides on a school, the better her chances would be of getting in. That seemed to shut her up for a minute.

My parents have always been proud of Lindsay's intelligence. From what I remember, I was never the brightest crayon in the box. It wasn't for a lack of trying though... my brain has always just worked a little differently. Lindsay's intelligence is what dancing would be for me. I think that's why I still feel bitter about the accident sometimes because dancing has always been my saving grace. Dancing was always something that I was just naturally good at and something that made my parents proud. Dancing to me is like breathing... it's automatic.

Or, at least it was...

After the accident and the endless months of physical therapy, suddenly I was just like everyone else... I became average. Dancing was the only thing that ever made me feel special and extraordinary. Dancing was the only thing that made me feel like I was worth something. I'm not sure if I'll ever find something that will make me feel that way again.

Sorry about the tangent...

Anyways... I think my mom finally got the hint that there were no ulterior motives for our sudden road trip, _although there was_. I almost felt like she was fishing for a certain response but eventually, she stopped digging once she got her desired answer. I still feel like my parents, _my mom especially_, are hiding something. I _know_ that they know who Santana is, but they won't tell me. I don't know... maybe if they were a little more forthcoming with whatever it is that they know then me and Linds wouldn't have had to plan this covert operation.

After the mild interrogation, me and Lindsay went to bed fairly early so that we could be up and leave by 6am Monday morning. We ended up making pretty good timing before our first pit stop. We finally made it to LA late Tuesday night. There may have been some excessive speeds used while we were traveling on the freeway, but luckily we didn't get any trouble from _The Fuzz_. As soon as we checked into our hotel, we crashed... _hard._

The next day, we actually made it to the campus tour on time. Lindsay thanked me numerous times for making our appointment at noon instead of some God awful time in the morning. However, she also cussed me out for agreeing with her to drive to LA in the first place instead of flying out here.

_My bad._

After the tour, we went back to our hotel to chill. Linds seemed really enthused and excited about UCLA being the possible college she would attend after high school. I was happy to see her so excited. After talking for a while, we decided to go out and explore the city a bit since our reservation at Maribel's wasn't until tomorrow night.

Apparently, Maribel's is one of the _"it"_ places in the city and normally you have to book months in advance to even get a table. I guess I had a bit of good fortune the day I called cuz the lady that answered the phone said that they were booked solid until September, which is 5 months away! I guess she heard my "Pierce pout" through the phone cuz she took down my number and said that she would call me if anything became available. Within 2 hours, she called me back and said that there was a cancelation on Thursday at 7:30 pm.

From what I recalled from that conversation, apparently the dude that had made the reservation for his anniversary had called and cancelled it because he found out that his wife was a ho... _fo' sho!_ I'm not saying that to be funny either. This lady was like legitimately sleeping with all of her husband's friends. The only reason he found out is because he had spilt sweet and sour sauce all over the crotch area of his pants during lunch and went home to change. Unfortunately for him, he caught his wife in bed with the next door neighbor.

Now that I think about it, I was on the phone for like 15 minutes with that lady. I think her name was Marley. She seemed very sweet. I'll have to make sure to thank her personally if she's working tomorrow. Anyways, although my heart goes out to that poor unlucky bastard, his wife's whorishness opened up a slot so that I could have my chance to meet Santana. But until that time rolls around, I'm gonna try my best not to drive myself crazy over-thinking everything. I'm gonna do my best to just enjoy this time with my baby sister and relax.

* * *

After a fun-filled night of taking in the sights of the city, Lindsay and I spent this afternoon shopping and chilling at the beach. The more time we spend here, the more I think that Lindsay has fallen in love with the city. From the great school, the beach, and the other beautiful surroundings, I could definitely see myself coming down here to visit more often, especially if Linds was here. I wish we had more time here to explore even more or maybe learn how to surf, but we came here for a reason… and that reason was somewhere inside of this restaurant that we were currently standing outside of.

Once we entered Maribel's, I was immediately taken back by how animated the surroundings were. It wasn't like it was over-the-top or anything, it was just a lot different than I had originally expected. The vibe of the restaurant was very nice and felt very chilled, but also classy. As we approached the hostess stand, we were greeted by a chipper young lady and a guy who's skin looked almost like porcelain.

"Hi there, welcome to Maribel's!" the brunette-headed girl stated excitedly. I could tell that she really enjoyed her job and wasn't just putting on a smile for show. "How can I help you?"

"I had a reservation at 7:30pm for Pierce," I reply. As the hostess looks through her book to find the reservation, I get a chance to read her nametag. "Oh, you're Marley!"

"Yes, I am…" she says proudly with a big smile, "… and I found your reservation."

"Awesome!" I start off. "I don't know if you remember me, but I talked to you last week and you guys were all booked up. You were nice enough to take down my number and actually called when someone cancelled. Anyways, I just wanted to say thanks."

"Oh yeah, I remember now…" she states before slapping her hand to her face. "I think I may have gotten a little _too_ carried away with our conversation. I'm sorry for my unprofessionalism," she says sincerely.

"Oh my God, is this the girl you were blabbing about after that guy spilt his heart out to you about his wife being a whore?" the other host states, bringing his hand to his chest to cover his heart. For a minute there, I thought I had gotten Marley in trouble until I saw a smirk graze across the male's lips. "I'm just messing with you girl," he states, giving Marley a playful shoulder bump.

"You'll have to excuse Kurt… he's a bit of a drama queen," Marley says to me. I smile in return while Kurt just nods along.

"It seems like you guys have a lot of fun working here," I state. "And by the way, I didn't find you to be unprofessional at all." Marley smiles and grabs 2 menus while ushering us towards the dining area. Once we were seated, she told us to enjoy our meal and then went back to her station.

As I looked around the restaurant, I took in the atmosphere and the different color schemes of certain sections. In the dining area, there were soft lights that were red and white. By the bar, half of it was lit up by yellow lights while the other half was green. Above the bar, there was a sign that said "New Directions Station". I guess that made sense since alcohol can really affect someone's mood and send them in a _new direction_, so to speak. Maybe the yellow side is where all the fruity drinks and spirits were kept to make you fell all light and dainty. If that's the case, then I could see the green side being where the hard liquor was stored and could make some patrons turn into the Hulk.

In the back corner across from the bar was a make-shift stage, highlighted with blue and white lights. Above the stage hung a fancy sign that said "Blue Eyed Corner", which seemed appropriate since it was obviously where music was played. I remember reading online about some of the different events they had, depending on the day. For the most part, there is usually a small band playing soft jazz to set the mood of the restaurant, kinda like they do currently. On some nights, Friday I think, they do karaoke here to bring in the younger crowd. And then sometimes on the weekends, they have open mic nights to help out some of the up and coming young artists out there or if you just enjoy music and feel like singing a song.

"Wow… this place is amazing," Lindsay states.

"I know, right!" I state excitedly. "It's so colorful… almost like a unicorn threw up in here."

Lindsay shakes her head at me before smiling again.

"So, how are feeling sis?"

"A little nervous, but okay," I offer.

Truthfully, I was starting to freak out a little, but I wasn't sure why. We had planned and driven all this way so that I could meet this girl that has been stuck in my head for nearly a week now, yet the thought of actually seeing her made me feel ill. I don't know what I'm expecting, but I know I've never felt this way before. I just hope that Santana doesn't secretly hate me and that's the reason why we're not friends anymore.

Before I can wallow in my insecurities further, the waitress appears and saves me from myself. She takes our drink orders and shortly after, she returns with a Dr. Pepper for Lindsay, a Shirley Temple for me, and a basket of cheesy breadsticks. I'm already in love with this place.

Even though I already knew what I wanted to eat, I couldn't help myself and glanced through the rest of the menu out of curiosity. When I reached the last page of the menu, my heart melted a little. The entire menu had been fairly structured and monotone in its presentation, but the last page was bursting with color. At the top, it read "Unicorn Kids Only!" and then there was a cartoon unicorn right beside the heading. Underneath it was a quote that said _"The best thing you can do in this life is to just be you!" _

The items on the kid's menu were all of my favorite foods from when I was a kid. Looking over this page, it almost felt like this part of the menu was made especially for me… or at least the old me. I was always told that I have a very child-like sense of behavior in how I sometimes acted and how I viewed the world. After the accident though, I guess I kinda lost some of that. After that horrible ordeal, I learned very quickly that the world isn't so innocent and carefree as I once thought it was.

* * *

Once the waitress came back, I ordered Spaghetti and Meatballs while Lindsay ordered Seafood Alfredo. After our food came, we both immediately dug in. The very first bite I took was like Heaven in my mouth. As I continued to eat, I guess my appreciative moans were a bit too loud because I caught several guests staring at me. I couldn't help it though… this food was _by far_ the best I had ever tasted in my life!

When our waitress came back to check on us, I knew it was time to put our plan into action. Lindsay and I raved about our delicious meals and insisted on complimenting the chef in person. Once our waitress left to go get Santana, I impatiently waited by trying to suck down any remaining liquid in my empty glass of soda. Eventually, Lindsay grabbed my hand to calm me down.

"Relax Britt… everything's gonna be okay," she stated. As I began to take some calming, deep breaths, I noticed Lindsay focusing on something behind me. "There she is…"

I resisted the urge to whip my head around and see the person that I hadn't been able to stop thinking about for the past week. I had to keep some of my dignity and play it cool or else I might come off as a complete lunatic. As I continued to struggle with not turning around, I suddenly felt a presence beside me. And then… I heard her voice. There was no speaker separating us this time, just the words flowing from her lips to my ears, merely inches away.

"Ladies, I'm so very happy to hear that you enjoyed your meal this evening," Santana said sincerely. Although she was addressing us both, she was more so talking to Lindsay since I hadn't looked up yet.

"Yes, it was phenomenal!" Lindsay replies. "I definitely wish we had a place like this back home."

"Oh, out-of-towners I see? Well, I'm glad that I got to be a part of your vacation!" Santana says happily. "Where are you girls from?"

I almost got lost just listening to her silky voice until a kick from underneath the table brought me back to reality. I looked up at Lindsay and saw her silently telling me that it was my cue to jump in. I know that I was probably coming off as rude because I had yet to look up and interact with this magnificent woman, but I couldn't help myself… I was scared. After another pointed look for Lindsay, I finally opened my mouth to speak.

"Lima…" I said softly as I slowly looked up. Santana slowly turned her head until our eyes met. "Hi…"

Santana seemed all but frozen once we began this slight staring contest. As I continued to look into her eyes, I could see her pupils dilating from how wide she had opened her eyes.

"Oh my God…" she whispered to herself. As I tried to search for some kind of answer, I noticed that her hands began to shake and her eyes became watery. "I'm glad you enjoyed the meal. Come back soon…" she rushed out before quickly turning and hauling ass back towards the kitchen.

All I could do is watch her leave as I sat in my chair, confused. I had no idea on what just happened, but one thing I do know for sure… Santana on TV is nothing compared to Santana in real life. That girl is absolutely beautiful in every sense of the word.

"So… that didn't go exactly how I expected it to," Lindsay says, finally breaking the silence.

"Yeah… tell me about it," is all I can say in response.

Without further discussion, I paid our check and Lindsay and I went back to our hotel. I had no idea where to go from here, but I knew that I couldn't go back to Lima without having some type of conversation with Santana. I desperately needed to find out what happened between us. I get that she has probably moved on from whatever happened between us, but I haven't since I can't remember. I just need some type of closure. Who knows… maybe we could be friends again? All I know is that she once was an important part of my old life and I really want her to be a part of my life now. Is that too much to ask for?

* * *

As Santana busts through the doors of the kitchen, she gets several questioning looks from her staff. She doesn't notice though as she quickly continues towards the back door leading outside to the alley.

"Santana, is everything okay?" Blaine, her sous-chef, asks.

"Y-yeah… I just need some air," Santana mumbles out before stepping outside.

Once outside, Santana breathes deeply and wipes away the water from her eyes. Her breathing is ragged, almost like she's hyperventilating. She's still trying to process everything that just occurred. _That couldn't have been her_, she thinks to herself. _This is just some weird-ass, trippy dream._

As Santana leans against the brick wall of her restaurant, she begins rubbing her head in an attempt to force away the confusion she's currently feeling. It doesn't work though. Just as her breathing starts to regulate again, the back alley door swings open.

"Santana, what's wrong?" Marley says delicately. "What happened back there?"

Apparently Marley had witnessed the whole interaction between Santana and the Pierce sisters. Although Santana was her boss, she considered them to be pretty good friends, especially since she was only a few years younger than the Latina. When she saw Santana heading over to the table where the Pierce girls were sitting, she immediately smiled. Marley thought that the 2 sisters were incredibly sweet and people she could definitely see being friends with if they lived in LA.

As she watched the exchange between Santana and the younger Pierce, she was happy to see a smile grace the Latina's lips because it was usually very rare when that happened. Marley knew how much it meant to Santana when people enjoyed their experience at her restaurant and personally complimented her on her cooking. It wasn't like a cocky thing or an ego boost either… it was genuine appreciation that people cared enough to keep coming back to her restaurant and let her know that she wasn't wasting her time being a chef.

Once Marley saw the sudden mood change and Santana heading for the exit, she knew something was off and decided to follow her.

"Nothing… I just needed some air," Santana said, repeating the same lie she told Blaine. "I'm not feeling too well. Could you tell Blaine to take over and I'll cover his morning shift tomorrow?"

"Yeah, sure thing," Marley replied. "Santana, I know there's something going on, but I'm not gonna force it out of you. Just know that I'm here if you need anything, okay?"

Santana slowly nods her head and gives a small smile to her.

"Thanks, Marley… I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

After opting to take a _very_ long walk home instead of taking a cab, Santana finally arrived at an empty apartment. The cool night air had calmed her down drastically, but she was still internally freaking out after her encounter with the blonde-haired woman. After pacing back and forth in her bedroom, she finally stopped at her vanity and stared at her jewelry box. After much debating, Santana finally opened the bottom drawer of the jewelry box and pulled out a specific ring.

In the palm of her hand lies a ring with a panda on it. The ring wasn't fancy or anything… in fact, it looked like something you could get out of a gumball machine. Although the ring probably didn't cost more than a quarter, its value was worth more than anything in the world to Santana. As a few silent tears slowly fall down her cheek, Santana leans her back against the wall and slides down until she meets the floor. As Santana hugs her knees against her chest, she grabs her phone and is dialing a familiar number within seconds.

"C'mon, pick up…" Santana states, impatiently waiting for the dial tone to stop. Just as she's about to lose all hope and hang up, someone picks up.

"Hello…" a rough-sounding voice says on the other end.

"Q?" Santana says hesitantly, not sure if she may have possibly interrupted something.

"San… you're my best friend and I love you to death," Quinn states. "With that being said… why the hell are you calling me at 4 in the morning?"

Santana hadn't notice the time before she erratically dialed the blonde's number. Glancing a quick look at the time on her phone, she saw that it was almost 1 o'clock her time. At the time, her mind didn't let her factor in that Quinn being in New York meant that she was 3 hours ahead and most likely sleeping.

"I'm sorry to wake you Quinn, but I _need_ to talk to you," she states apologetically.

"Santana, what's going on?" Quinn asks, her voice laced with concerned and a hint of sleepiness.

"I saw her…"

"Saw who?" Quinn states confused.

"I saw _her_…" Santana repeats. "I saw… _Brittany_," she slowly breathes out.

The line is silent for a minute until Santana hears some shuffling in the background.

"_Holy shit!_" Quinn finally says, sounding much more awake now. "Start from the beginning…"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Just a heads up, the next one will be from Santana's POV so that you can see her side of things. I just want to say thank you to everybody who's read, reviewed, or is currently following this story so far… it's been amazing. I especially would like to give a shout out to all of the guests that I can't personally PM to thank! Also, if anyone is interested in what the ring looks like, go to Etsy dot com and search for "tibbers panda ring". I thought it looked cute and fun (and don't worry… the ring's significance will be addressed later). Also, the next chapter will probably include some flashbacks. Until next time!

-Kris :p

**Disclaimer:** I sadly do **NOT** own Glee or any of its characters.


	3. Come See About Me

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 3: Come See About Me**

The day had started pretty ordinary. I ran some errands during the morning and then met up with Puck to go surfing. It was a beautiful day and I was totally stoked about the nice size waves we were catching. After some fun in the sun, I went home to shower and just chill before heading to the restaurant and preparing for the dinner rush.

In the 2 or so years that my restaurant's been opened, it has quickly skyrocketed into one of LA's hot spots. When I first enrolled into culinary school, I had no idea of the wild ride that was in store for me. I guess I never really had time to think about it or process it cuz this line of work was not what I had originally set out to do. With all of the recognition and attention my restaurant received on a daily basis, running it definitely kept me super busy.

Cooking was always just a hobby of mine, but it ended up saving my life. Now, don't misunderstand me... I never thought about killing myself or anything crazy like that, but there was a point in time when I stopped caring about myself and just felt overly depressed. Cooking kept me busy and helped me escape the demons that were tying me to my old life, demons that I needed to move on from. As much as I wanted to stay in the past and pretend that everything would be okay, I knew that it wouldn't. With my mom's help, I moved to the other side of the country to start my new life without the girl that meant everything to me. It was the hardest thing I ever had to do. Honestly, I didn't think I could... but for my own sanity and well-being, I eventually did.

* * *

After working my ass off in the kitchen for the past few hours, one of the newer waitresses told me that there were some guests that were dying to compliment the chef. This was always a fun part of my job, hearing how much people enjoyed my food. It makes me proud and is a true testament to my mom... she taught me everything I know.

As I exit the kitchen and make my way towards the table in question, I spot a bubbly-looking blonde ahead of me. There is another blonde-haired woman sitting with her, but her back is facing me. As I got closer to the table, I can't help but feel like this girl looks oddly familiar. She looks like she's probably mid-late teens, has fair skin, and blue eyes. If I didn't know any better, I'd say she was the spinning image of _her…_ but that's crazy talk. Based on the other woman's hair color and skin tone, I would bet money that these 2 ladies are related somehow.

Once I finally reach the table, I greet my 2 guests and thank them for choosing my restaurant to dine at. As I exchange a few pleasantries with the younger blonde in front of me, I can't help but feel like the other woman at the table is watching me. I find it odd and perhaps a little rude that she hasn't even bothered to look up or greet me, but I decided not to dwell on it.

When I asked where the bubbly blonde was from, the answer I received was much more than I bargained for.

"Lima..." the other blonde at the table finally says.

My heart stopped once I heard that angelic voice that I'd know from anywhere. As I slowly turn my head towards her direction, my eyes finally met the 2 crystal blue orbs that have haunted my dreams for the past 6 years.

* * *

_**Flashback - September 2003, Junior year**_

_I remember it like it was yesterday._

_It was my very first day at McKinley High and already I was gonna be late for homeroom._

_My parents and I had just moved to Lima a couple of weeks ago when my dad took a job offer to be the Head of Plastic Surgery at Lima Medical Center. I get why some people get boob or nose jobs, but I'll never understand how some people get overly obsessed with their body image that they have multiple surgeries to fix all of these imperfections that aren't even there. Whatever the case may be, people sure do pay my dad a lot of money to "fix" them. That's all good and well, I just wish that I got to spend a little more time with him before I'm off to college in a couple of years._

_Anyways, when my mom enrolled me here, I didn't really get a chance to take a tour of the school so I would know where I was going. Instead, I was handed a schedule by the secretary and told to have a pleasant day. As I aimlessly roamed through the hallways looking for my class, I didn't notice the other person in front of me until I collided into them. I immediately apologized and bent down to pick up our books that had landed haphazardly on the floor._

_As I looked up to see the poor soul that I had carelessly crashed into, my breath hitched in my throat as my eyes met the most beautiful set of ocean blues that I had ever seen before in my life. That was followed by the most beautiful set of teeth when the girl smiled at me, accented by long blonde hair pulled up into a tight ponytail._

_"Hi, I'm Brittany!" the girl stated as she extended her hand out to me._

_"Hi..." I whispered back before clearing my throat. "I'm Santana!"_

_I shook her hand and immediately felt a jolt of electricity run through my body once my skin connected with hers. As I smiled back in return, I couldn't help but intake her amazing scent of coconuts. I honestly felt like I was on the verge of passing out._

_"Santana... that's a really beautiful name," she stated, releasing my hand. I sighed at the loss of contact._

_"Thanks... I like your name too," I offered, lamely._

_"I haven't seen you around before. Are you new here?" Brittany asks excitedly._

_I don't think I've ever met someone so chipper before, especially towards a complete stranger. I guess the cheerleading outfit that she's sporting seems fitting._

_"Yeah, I just moved here recently... still trying to find my way around," I reply._

_"Who's class are you supposed to be in now?" Brittany asks._

_I take out my schedule to look over it again before responding._

_"It says Mr. Martinez for Spanish..." I state. Why they would put me in Spanish for my foreign language elective when I speak it fluently is beyond me. At least it will be an easy A._

_"Sweet!" Brittany exclaims. "That's where I was headed to."_

_Brittany leans over my shoulder slightly to view the rest of my schedule. Although she is currently in my bubble, for some reason, I don't mind._

_"It looks like we have 3 more classes together, plus lunch!" Brittany continues. "I'm super excited... this year is gonna be awesome!"_

_Hearing those words leave her lips, I automatically smile knowing that I'll be seeing the blonde a lot more. At my other schools, I mainly kept to myself and didn't really have a lot, if any, friends. But something about the jubilance emitting from this girl made me what to get to know her. It made me want to be her friend._

_"Yeah, I think so too!" I said, sincerely._

_"Shall we get to class?" Brittany asked, extending her pinkie out to me. I nodded and linked my pinkie with hers without hesitation._

_"I can already tell that we're gonna be best friends," she stated matter-of-factly. "And don't worry... I get lost around here all the time."_

_All I can do is smile at her and follow her down the hallway to our class._

_Even from our very first meeting, Brittany had me hooked. I knew then and there that I was in some serious trouble. Because it was her though… I didn't mind._

* * *

"Hi..." she whispers so softly that I almost missed it, my mind being occupied elsewhere.

Suddenly, I remember where I am and what is happening right in front of me. The room feels like its spinning and I think I may actually pass out. My hands start trembling and my eyes begin to water. It's getting extremely harder to breathe and if I don't get out of here soon, I might die from the overwhelming emotions running around inside of me.

Before the situation became even more awkward and I accidentally caused a scene in the middle of my restaurant, I offered a quick _"come back soon"_ and headed to nearest exit towards the kitchen. After a brief talk with Marley, I walked home to clear my head, bringing me to where I am now.

* * *

"Wow S... that's crazy!" Quinn replies. "What are you gonna do?"

"I have no idea... I don't even know what she's doing here," I state, completely befuddled.

"I know you didn't really talk to her, but did it seem like she remembered you at all?"

That's a good fucking question. To be honest, I can't say for sure if she remembers me or not. Now that I think of it though, her silence and weird behavior would make a little more sense if she did remember me, even just a little.

"I honestly don't know. For all I know, it could've been a coincidence," I respond. I didn't really believe that, but it was the only thing I could think of from driving me completely insane.

"What about the girl she was with?" Quinn questions.

"I think it was her sister Lindsay," I start off. "I haven't seen her since she was like 11, but she looks just like Brittany, just a younger version."

"Santana... I know that this is probably not what you want to hear right now, but I'm gonna say it anyway," Quinn begins. "Maybe you _should_ talk to her... maybe you can finally get the closure that you've been looking for all of these years."

I think long and hard about what Quinn just said. I really want to talk to her, but on the other hand, I feel like I can't. I spent the past six years trying to move on, trying to get over her... but I can't.

"I know you're probably right Q, but I'm not sure if I'm ready for all of this just yet," I reply. "Besides, I don't even know how I would go about getting in touch with her or how long she'll even be here for."

"I'm sure you'll find a way... you always do," Quinn states simply. "Are you feeling any better?"

"A little..." I offer. "I'm sorry again for waking you up, but thanks for listening."

"Anytime sweetie!" Quinn states sincerely. "One last question though... despite all of the craziness that happened tonight, how was it... _seeing_ her?"

There were so many emotions that ran through my body when I saw Brittany again. Honestly, it felt like the 4th of July going on inside my belly.

"It almost felt like nothing had changed..." I start off. "She's still just as beautiful as ever."

"Yeah... I figured that," Quinn states through a yawn.

"Go back to sleep Q... call me later," I state.

"Sure thing kiddo," she responds. "Love ya... goodnight."

"Love ya too! Night Q!"

And with that, the call ended. I looked at the time on my phone to see that it was a little after 3. I felt much better now after talking to Quinn, but still unsure about everything. I guess I should try to get some sleep since I'm covering the morning shift in a few hours. Maybe with a little bit of rest, I'll figure out what to do next.

* * *

A few hours later, I rolled out of bed and got ready for work. As I enter the front doors, I see Marley standing near the bar, chatting with Jake, the bartender. It's obvious that the 2 of them have the hots for each other, but I'm not sure if either of them is ever gonna do anything about it.

"Do you ever go home?" I ask Marley, playfully.

"Nope, I live here..." she jokes. "Actually, I switched with Kurt since Blaine wasn't going to be in til later. Plus, I gotta pay for tuition somehow," she says with a wink.

"I can understand that... make that money girl!" I say back with my ghetto accent.

"Hey Puckerman... tell your brother that if he's not gonna answer his phone, he shouldn't have one," I say to Jake.

"I've told him that several times, but you know how he gets when he's with the ladies," Jake responds back.

It's so true though... I love Puck to death, but the dude is a serious manwhore. I still have hope for him though, but I'm sure I haven't really been helping the situation whenever I agree to be his wingman. I'm glad Jake isn't like his brother though. If anything happens between him and Marley, I think that would be awesome. In the same sense, if he does anything to hurt Marley… I'll kill him.

I make my way to my office to put down my stuff before I begin prepping the kitchen for when we open in a little while for lunch. As I chopped and slice various vegetables and begin marinating some meat, I hear someone enter the kitchen.

"Hey Santana," Marley says. "There's someone here to see you."

Being a bit pre-occupied and only half-listening to what Marley just said, I give her a quick _"send them back" _and continue working on the task at hand. With my back facing away from the door, my movements cease once I hear the voice of the woman standing behind me.

"Um, Santana… could I speak to you for a minute?"

I slowly turn around and see the younger Pierce sister standing a few feet away from me. It's uncanny how much she resembles Brittany.

"Sure… have a seat," I state slowly, grabbing a stool. The young blonde nods and sits down while I remain standing.

"I'm not sure if you remember me, but…" she starts off, but I stop her mid-sentence.

"Lindsay… of course I remember you," I state quickly. She flashes me a small smile. "You were so little the last time I saw you, but I see that you've grown into an exceptionally beautiful young lady."

"Thank you Santana… you're not too shabby yourself," Lindsay responds. "As much as I would love to catch up with you, I did come here for a reason…"

"Brittany?" I state more than question. Lindsay slowly nods her head. "H-how's she been doing?"

"She's been okay… some days are worse than others, but she manages," she states. "She doesn't know I'm here right now…"

"Does she re…" I start to ask, but can't finish the statement, afraid of what the answer may be.

"Her memory is still the same," Lindsay says solemnly. If she still doesn't remember me, then why is she here?

"I don't get it… if she still can't remember, then how did you end up here?" I finally ask.

Lindsay then proceeds to tell me about how they saw my episode of _Chopped_ and how Brittany was fixated on figuring out who I was. She then told me about the yearbook and how they pieced together that we were once very close. Lindsay then informed me on how her and Brittany came up with this elaborate plan to come to LA to meet me in person with the cover story of going to look at colleges. I must say, I was pretty impressed with the amount of time and effort the Pierce girls put into driving down here just to meet me.

"Wow… I don't know what to say," I state after hearing the summarize version of Operation: Meet Santana.

"Say that you'll talk to Brittany?" Lindsay states, hopefully.

"I don't know if that's such a good idea Lindsay," I reply. "I really do appreciate the effort you guys put into coming here, but there's a lot of history and emotional wounds that I'm not sure I want to dig up."

"I can understand that, but think about Brittany…" she starts off. "One week ago, she discovered a part of herself that had been washed away. She found out about this great group of friends that she used to have, but now has absolutely no recognition of," she continues. "I can't even begin to imagine how it feels to have so many pieces of your life disappear within an instant and never knowing the reason why or how to get it back."

"_Your mother knows…_" I mumble under my breath, feeling so frustrated by what Brittany's had to endure over the past few years we've been apart.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Lindsay questions. Apparently my little slip was loud enough for her to hear.

"Nothing… it just means that maybe you should be talking to your parents about this," I reply.

"We tried, but they were locked up tighter than a bank vault… that's why we came here," she responds.

"What do you want me to do Lindsay?" I ask incredulously.

"I just want you to sit down and talk to my sister…" Lindsay starts off. "She has a lot of questions, but nobody will give her any answers."

I cover my face with my hands, contemplating my options. I then feel a slight pressure against my shoulder. As I uncover my face, I see that Lindsay has moved from her chair and is now directly in front of me.

"Look Santana… I'm not gonna pretend to know how you feel, but it's pretty obvious that your separation from Brittany has taken its toll on you," she starts again. "I'm not gonna pretend to know exactly how deep your relationship was with my sister, but I can almost guarantee that it was more than friendship based on everything I've heard and seen this past week..."

_Lindsay was always a bright kid._

"Although Brittany might not remember exactly who you are or what you once meant to her, it obviously left some kind of impression to make her become obsessed over finding out everything about you after seeing you on a TV show," Lindsay reasons. "Just meet with her… _please._"

And there it is… that damn _"Pierce pout"_ on full display! I tell ya… this family _will_ be the death of me.

"I'll think about it…" I offer.

"That's as good as a yes for me!" Lindsay squeaks. "Here's the hotel we're staying at. On the back is our room number and my cell, just in case you need to get in touch with me," she states, handing me a piece of folded up stationery.

I nod and place the paper inside of my pocket. Lindsay then leans in and gives me a warm hug.

"It was really great to see you, Santana…" she starts off. "We're driving back tomorrow so I hope to you see again before that."

And with that, the younger version of Brittany walks out of the kitchen and leaves me standing here, confused as fuck. _What am I gonna do?_

* * *

Brittany sits at the desk in the hotel room, idly flipping through channels to find something good to watch. Lindsay had just momentarily stepped out of the room to go get them some food, but it was taking her a little longer than Brittany had expected.

When Brittany woke up this morning, she noticed that her baby sister was not there with her. As she laid there in bed replaying every detail of what had occurred the previous night, she pretended to still be asleep when Lindsay returned a half hour later. Once Brittany finally decided to "get up", she decided not to question her sister on her whereabouts that morning.

As Brittany finally decides on watching _Judge Judy_, she hears a light tapping on her door. Assuming that it was either housekeeping or her sister, Brittany walks towards the door to open it.

"Let me guess, you forgot your key…" Brittany begins to say but loses all forms of coherent speech when she sees who's actually at the door.

"Hey, Brittany…" Santana says softly. "Can I come in?"

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Another update in 24 hours?! I know what you're thinking… it's madness! In all honesty though, all of responses that I've gotten from this story since yesterday's post inspired me to get another chapter to. Thank you guys so much! Please enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I still **DON'T** own anything!


	4. The Hardest Thing

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 4: The Hardest Thing**

After Lindsay left my kitchen, I had no idea on what I was gonna do. I desperately wanted to see Brittany again and talk to her, but I honestly felt like it would just be too much.

When Lindsay mentioned that they had tried talking to their parents about me but got nothing in return, it made my blood boil. I have no clue on what the Pierce's have said about me in the past, but I still feel some resentment towards them from keeping me away from their daughter after the accident.

I used to have such a good relationship with them, that's why I was completely shocked when they, mainly _she_, asked me to stay away from Brittany.

* * *

_**Flashback - June 2007, New York**_

_When Brittany initially woke up from her coma, I was so relieved and overjoyed to see those beautiful blue eyes staring back at me. But something was different... her eyes used to be a bright blue and light up every time they met mine, but now they were replaced with a darker blue, filled with confusion._

_She didn't remember me... she didn't remember **us**__._

_I was literally heartbroken at the fact that Brittany didn't know who I was, but I remained hopeful. I spoke to her doctors and they were very hopeful as well that her memory would come back. However, after a month went by with no progress, the probability of that happening became slim to none._

_Once Brittany was well enough to be released from the hospital, her parents pulled me aside to have a little chat with me. Mrs. Pierce did most of the talking while her husband stood beside her. I knew that I probably wasn't going to like what I was about to hear, but nothing could've prepared me for the fucking bombshell they dropped on me._

_"Santana... we're taking Brittany back to Lima with us," Mrs. Pierce stated casually._

_"What?" I ask incredulously. "What about her life here... what about school?"_

_"Jack and I have already spoken to the dean at Juilliard and he's agreed to let Brittany medically withdraw from school."_

_"Okay, but why does she have to go back to Lima?" I questioned, still confused by this new information. "The way you're talking... this sounds permanent."_

_"Santana, you heard what the doctors said..." Mrs. Pierce starts off. "Brittany has a long road of recovery ahead of her and she's in no condition to be able to take care of herself right now."_

_"I'll take care of her!" I quickly respond. "Quinn will help too!"_

_"Sweetie, I wouldn't begin to burden you or Quinn with this heavy task ahead, especially with you both being so young and focused on school," she states. "Brittany needs to be at home, in a familiar place, to help her get better."_

_"But this **is** her home," I argue. "Taking care of her wouldn't be a burden... I'd do anything for Brittany!"_

_"I know you would dear... that's why what I'm about to ask you is extremely difficult..." Mrs. Pierce trails off._

_I take a deep breath, not knowing what's about to happen._

_"Santana... I need you to stay away from Brittany," she states._

_My eyebrows furrow because __**clearly**__ I must've misheard her._

_"W-what are you talking about?" I ask._

_"Brittany doesn't remember you, Quinn, or anything about her life here..." Mrs. Pierce begins. "We feel that it would be in our daughter's best interest if you stopped all forms of communication with her, starting immediately."_

_I am absolutely stunned and fucking furious at what this lady had the audacity to just say to me. I mean seriously... is this bitch for real?_

_"Forgive my language, but are you fucking kidding me right now?!" I state loudly, balling up my fists by my side._

_"Santana..." Mrs. Pierce starts to say as she raises her hand to lie on my shoulder. I move away quickly before she's able to make contact._

"_**Don't**__... __**touch**__... __**me**__..." I say very slowly through my teeth. Mrs. Pierce immediately retracts her hand. "You can't just cut me out of Brittany's life!"_

_"It's already been done..." she retorts. "Brittany doesn't remember you. The last thing she needs while trying to recover is someone, who is now a stranger to her, constantly trying to remind her of something she can't remember..."_

_Hearing Mrs. Pierce's words felt like a dagger straight through my heart. Although her words angered me, what she said did have some validity. Brittany didn't remember me... what if she never did? The last thing I would ever want to do is become a burden to her or inadvertently make her feel guilty for not being able to remember._

_"But, she's my best friend..." I whisper out, tears rapidly falling from my eyes now. "P-please don't do this..." I beg, my eyes pleading with the Pierces. Mr. Pierce doesn't say anything, just stands behind his wife, not daring to make eye contact with me._

_"I'm sorry Santana..." Mrs. Pierce offers. "I know that you probably hate me right now, but I'm trying to do what's best for my daughter."_

_"I love your daughter..." I manage to get out through my tears._

_"I know you do..." Mrs. Pierce replies, her eyes watering up. "That's why you need to let her go."_

_With that, Mrs. Pierce grabs her husband's hand and begins walking down the corridor, away from me._

_"What if she eventually remembers me?" I yell out, stopping them in their tracks._

_"Then she'll come back to you..." Mrs. Pierce replies before continuing down the hall until her and Mr. Pierce are completely out of sight._

_I remain standing there in the middle of the hospital, violently shaking and crying uncontrollably._

_"Goodbye, Brittany..." I whisper to myself._

* * *

As I stand in the middle of my kitchen, my arms are firmly clutching my chest and I'm shaking, much like I was that particular day. All of those memories bring up mixed emotions that I had buried deep inside of me until Brittany magically appeared back in my life last night. A part of me is still angry at her parents for stealing her away from me. The other part of me is angry at myself for not fighting harder for her. I guess in the grand scheme of things, I gave up so easily because I blamed myself for the accident. At that time, seeing Brittany like that, I felt like everything was my fault and that I didn't deserve to be with her for my own punishment. That's why after all of these years, I never tried to find her or contact her.

Although it broke me to let go of her and watch as she walked out of my life, I never stopped thinking about her or caring about her… I never stopped _loving_ her. But of course, I'll probably never tell her that.

"Yo, Santana…" I hear Puck's voice from behind me. I try quickly to wipe away the water in my eyes before he can see, but I'm unsuccessful. "Shit, San… what the hell happened?" he says, embracing me into a soothing hug.

"I'm losing my fucking mind…" I sob into his shoulder. "I wasn't prepared for this… I don't know what to do."

"It's okay San… talk to your lesbro," he says. I giggle a little.

I then fill him in on Lindsay's visit and everything that happened the night before. Puck listens intently and tells me to man up and go talk to Brittany because he knows that I want to, no matter how much I try to deny it.

Just for the record… I hate it when he's right!

* * *

After talking with Puck, I felt much calmer and was actually able to make it through the lunch rush. Once Blaine arrived for his shift, I told him that I would be gone for a few hours and that he was in charge. After that, I made my decision and sent Lindsay a text to let her know that I was on my way to their hotel to talk to Brittany.

Once I arrived at the hotel, Lindsay met me in the lobby and told me that Brittany was expecting her back any minute now. With that in mind, I made my way to their room and stood outside of the door for a minute, trying to collect my thoughts. After taking one last deep breath, I lightly knock on the door. After a few seconds, I hear footsteps approaching the door.

"Let me guess, you forgot your key…" Brittany says as she's opening the door. She stops dead in her tracks and just stares at me once she realizes that I'm not her sister.

"Hey Brittany…" I say softly. "Can I come in?"

Brittany quickly nods her head and steps aside so that I can enter the room. Once inside, I sit on the desk chair while she sits on the edge of the bed. She then grabs the remote and turns off the TV to give me her full attention.

"How did you know where to find me?" Brittany asks.

"Your sister…" I reply back. She chuckles to herself and shakes her head with an all-knowing smile.

_God, I've missed her laugh._

"I'm kinda surprised to see you…" she starts off. "After your reaction last night, I didn't think that I would again."

"Well… if you were in my shoes, you probably would've wanted to run away too," I state. She gives me a small smile. "Your sister can be _very_ convincing though."

"Yeah, tell me about it," Brittany says, playfully rolling her eyes.

"Anyways… I know that you probably have a lot of questions to ask so I'll do my best to answer them," I begin. "However… I just hope that you realize that it wasn't easy for me to come here and that it may be difficult for me to talk about certain things."

"I understand," Brittany responds. "I just want to thank you in advance for doing this."

I flash a tiny smile at her.

"So… where should we start?"

"Um… I'm not really sure," Brittany states. "I guess first and foremost, I'd really like to know what happened to _us_. I mean, according to my yearbook, we used to be best friends…"

"Well, I guess I'll just start from the beginning…" I state.

* * *

I then begin telling Brittany about the first time we met and how we instantly became best friends. I told her about Quinn and Puck and how we all became such close friends. Before I moved to Lima, Brittany had already known both of them since Quinn was a cheerleader and Puck was a football player, but they never really hung out until I came along. Once we all started hanging out, we discovered that we all shared a common love for music. It was this discovery that led us to form our band, _Loose Change_. We had lots of fun back then, playing weekly at this great restaurant called Breadstix. I played guitar and was lead vocals while Brittany played the drums, Puck played bass, and Quinn was on the keyboards. Brittany really seemed to enjoy hearing about the band and our other friends that she didn't know about. Talking about this stuff now makes me realize how much I miss singing, but that's a story for another time.

I then told Brittany about life after high school. After we graduated from McKinley, me, Brittany, and Quinn moved to New York for college while Puck moved to California. Brittany had gotten a scholarship to Julliard while Quinn and I received academic scholarships to NYU. Since we were all best friends, the 3 of us decided to rent an apartment together instead of staying in the dorms. All of our parents preferred for us to not live on campus anyways so they helped us out tremendously with rent.

Our time in New York was some of the best memories of my life. It was where the 3 of us found our independence… it's where Brittany and I fell in love.

* * *

_**Flashback – September 2005, Freshman year**_

_It was the end of our first week of college and we were dog-tired. Brittany and I sat on the couch in our living room while Quinn was still at school for some workshop she had signed up for._

"_Oh my God… college is exhausting!" Brittany states, exasperated. I giggle at her dramatics. _

"_Well, yeah… what did you expect Britt?" I ask casually._

"_I don't know… I just feel like I can't move and my throat is super dry," she responds._

"_You're probably just dehydrated," I reply. "Let me get you some water."_

_I then hop off of the couch and head towards the kitchen, grabbing 2 water bottles for us. As I sit back on the couch, Brittany lies down and drapes her legs over my lap._

"_Thanks San," she says as I hand her the water bottle, "you always take such good care of me."_

"_Of course, Britt! You're my best friend… it's kinda in the job description," I state simply like it's the most obvious thing._

_As we sit peacefully on the couch with the low hum of the TV on in the background, I start to massage Brittany's feet to help her relax. I know that she's had a pretty intense week and her feet must be killing her by now, so I figured it was the least I could do._

"_That feels so good…" Brittany says in appreciation. "I don't know how I'm supposed to make it the next 4 years like this…"_

"_What do you mean?" I ask, inquisitively. _

"_It's just that…" Brittany trails off. "Everyone is so good… I don't know how I'm gonna keep up with them."_

_Hearing Brittany doubt herself hurts my heart. I had no idea she felt like this._

"_That's crazy talk, Britt…" I start out. "You are one of the most amazing dancers that I've ever seen!"_

"_You're just saying that cuz you're my best friend…" she says solemnly, looking away from me._

_I remove Brittany's legs from my lap and slide over on the couch so that I am directly beside her. I then reach my hand out and lift up her chin gently so that she's looking at me._

"_Hey, listen to me… you are incredible," I begin. "The first time I saw you dance, I almost cried because it was just so moving and beautiful," I state sincerely. "If I were those other students at Julliard, I'd be worried cuz they got nothin' on you Britt-Britt!"_

_I see a small smile grace Brittany's lips before she slowly starts to shake her head like she doesn't believe what I'm saying._

"_Thanks for saying that, but I still feel like I'm out of my league…" she states._

"_You know I'd never lie to you, right?" I ask her. She slowly nods her head up and down. "What do I have to do to make you believe me?"_

_As Brittany shrugs her shoulders, I can't help but notice the sad puppy look on her face. I don't want her to be sad. Brittany is the most positive and upbeat person I know so seeing her in this state is unacceptable. I then realize that my hand was still touching Brittany's face. I don't know what came over me, but as our eyes connected, I lifted up my other hand to cup her chin and gently pulled her towards me._

_As I leaned forward, I felt butterflies in my stomach as our lips touched for the first time. Our kiss was soft and short, only lasting a few seconds before I slowly pulled away. I knew I had crossed a line, but at that point in time, I really didn't care. Whether it was for my own selfish reasons or just wanting to make Brittany feel better (which is what I tell myself at least), I kissed her and there was nothing I could do to take it back._

_As I cautiously open my eyes, I find Brittany's crystal blues staring back at me. I lower my hands from her face and lean back a little to give her some space. I'm looking right at her, but for the first time since I've known her, I can't read the expression on her face._

"_Wow…" Brittany finally says, "… was that a part of the best friend handbook?"_

"_I know I probably shouldn't have done that…" I reply softly. "I'm sorry, I…"_

_I start to say something else, but my words get cut off by the sudden appearance of Brittany's lips on mine. The action was so sudden that I lost my balance and fell backwards onto the couch. Brittany's lips never break away from mine, our kiss deepening as she lies on top of me. After a couple of minutes of exchanging soft, sensual kisses, we finally break apart and just stare at each other._

"_Don't apologize…" Brittany starts off, "… don't __**ever**__ apologize for kissing me."_

_All I can do is nod my head blankly. I'm completely dumbfounded at this point. I guess my brain is still trying to catch up with the events that had just taken place. Since Brittany actually kissed me back, I guess there's no point in hiding the truth anymore._

"_You have no idea how long I've wanted to do that," I state sincerely while softly running my fingers through her hair._

"_I think I might have a pretty good idea…" Brittany responds cheekily. _

"_So… I guess that means you like me too?" I hesitantly ask._

_Brittany leans down and places a quick, but chaste kiss to my lips._

"_Santana, there's a reason why I never dated anyone in high school…" Brittany simply states._

_I take a second to think about her statement before it finally hits me._

"_Oh…" I reply as the puzzle pieces finally start to make sense. All of this time, we both liked each other but neither of us were courageous enough to make the first move. "So… what does this mean?"_

_Brittany softly strokes my cheek as she tucks a loose strand of my hair behind my ear._

"_It means… we have a lot of catching up to do," she states with a grin on her face. I smile back at her before our lips meet again_

_Honestly… there's no better feeling in the world than Brittany's lips attached to mine._

* * *

"Santana?" Brittany says, breaking me away from my thoughts.

"Huh?" I reply. "Oh sorry, I just drifted off for a minute… where was I?"

"You were telling me about our first year of college," she responds with a smile.

"Oh, right…" I state before continuing on.

As I retell the stories of our first year of college, I decided not to tell Brittany about our romantic relationship. As much as I want to tell her all about our first kiss, our first date, our first _time_… I can't. Re-living those irreplaceable memories with her and her _not_ being able to remember one second of it would just hurt entirely too much. I've never lied to Brittany before. _Technically_, I'm not lying to her now… I'm just choosing to only disclose _some_ of the facts.

After I get through telling Brittany about all of our wild adventures in New York, I finally get to that horrible night that changed everything. I know I said before that New York was the home to some of my best memories ever… however, it's also the home of the _worst_ memory of my life.

* * *

_**Flashback – June 2007, New York**_

_Brittany and I were on our way to dinner on a Friday night when the unthinkable happened. I was stopped at a red light, having an animated conversation with Brittany. Once our light turned green, I looked both ways before taking my foot off of the brake and slowly entering the intersection. What happened next is still a bit fuzzy._

_I remember bits and pieces from that night. I remember our car being struck on Brittany's side. I remember everything going dark for what seemed like forever, but actually only ended up being a few minutes. I remember waking up and being in excruciating pain, not knowing where I was for a split second. And then I thought of Brittany. At that moment, it didn't matter what could possibly be wrong with me… I just had to help Brittany._

_At some point during the collision, our car flipped over. Once I was able to free myself from my seat belt, I scrambled to get Brittany out of hers. She was unconscious, which freaked me out because I started to smell gas leaking from the car and I couldn't get her to wake up. I don't know if it was adrenaline or something else, but by some force of God, I was able to get Brittany out of the car and carry her to safety._

_I don't remember much after that, like when the police arrived on scene or how I got to the hospital… the only thing that mattered was whether Brittany was okay or not. I remember her being rushed immediately into surgery based on her extensive injuries, but after that, everything else is kinda blank._

_Later on after I had recovered a bit, the doctors told me that I had a dislocated shoulder, a broken wrist, a couple of bruised ribs, and a mild concussion. They seemed very befuddled by how I managed to carry Brittany's dead weight away from the car after the accident with the injuries that I had sustained. I simply told them that people are capable of incredible things when it comes to the people they love._

* * *

Of course when I replayed the night of the accident for Brittany, I left out the _love_ part. I also left out the part of how her parents basically forced me to stay away from her after she woke up from her coma and didn't remember me.

Against my better judgment, I refrain from completely throwing Brittany's parents under the bus with the whole "stay away from our daughter" speech. Instead, I opted to tell her that her parents felt that it would be best if any of the _friends_ that she couldn't remember would keep their distance so that we didn't_ distract_ her from her recovery. Brittany seemed a little confused by this, but eventually accepted my explanation.

"So… how did you end up in Cali?" Brittany asks.

I thought long and hard before I answered her. Again… I've never lied to Brittany before, but telling her the complete truth would've just been too much for me to handle.

"I just needed a change of pace, I guess…" I finally say as convincingly as possible. "Living in the city was great, but being near the beach is even better."

I didn't tell Brittany that the real reason was because I was so heartbroken over her. I didn't tell her that I stopped eating for days because I was so depressed when she left. I didn't tell her that being in the city without her just hurt too much because everything reminded me of her.

I could tell that Brittany wanted me to go deeper into my reasons for leaving, but for whatever reason, she didn't ask me to explain further… _thankfully_.

"Have you been back to Lima since then?" Brittany questions.

"No… during my sophomore year at NYU, my parents split," I respond. "My dad stayed in Lima while my mom moved to Seattle. I would've liked to have visited my dad over the years, but he barely had time for me when I was living there so I figured it wouldn't be any different."

"I'm sorry San… that must've been rough," Brittany states, displaying a sad smile and lightly brushing my hand to comfort me.

My heart nearly skipped a beat when she called me _San_. Brittany is first person to ever call me that… well, the first that I actually didn't mind calling me that. Quinn and Puck are the only other exceptions. By the way… Brittany almost gave me a freaking heart attack when she touched me. I think this girl is _literally_ trying to kill me!

"It's no biggie…" I reply nonchalantly, lifting my hand up to cover up a fake cough. Her hand was still touching mine, burning a hole in it. I just couldn't take it anymore so I had to think of something to remove my hand from hers. "Anyways, that's another reason why I moved out here so that I could be closer to my mom, so I guess everything worked out."

Brittany nods before she looks at the ground and starts playing with her fingernails. That's always been a nervous habit of hers… I guess some things never change. She looks like she's in deep thought, contemplating on whether she's going to ask whatever it is that is on her mind.

"Did you ever…" she finally says, trailing off. "Did you ever… think… about…?"

Sensing where she was going with this, I lay a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"_Every day…_" I state honestly with a small smile. This seemed to relieve whatever dilemma Brittany was having with her inner self. "I never tried to contact you cuz I figured that you still didn't remember me," I state, knowing that's where the next line of questioning was going. "I guess I just figured that if you did remember, then you would reach out to me. Sadly, you never did… _until now_."

"I _wish_ I could remember…" Brittany says solemnly. "It sounds like we had a lot of good times."

"Yeah… we did," I reply with a small smile. "Well, I should probably be heading back…" I state, standing up from my chair.

"_Oh_, okay…" Brittany states sadly. It almost felt like she didn't want me to leave, which was nice. "Thank you again for doing this."

"You're welcome," I reply as I head towards the door.

"Santana…" Brittany says, causing me to turn around. "I know this may be a long shot, but do you think I could maybe have your phone number?"

"Umm…" I stutter out.

More than anything, I want to re-connect with Brittany. However, I don't know if I can just be her friend after all of this. I don't know if I can be just someone she talks to on occasion to catch up with. I don't know if I could handle hearing about a new person she's dating.

"It's just that we were _so_ close before…" she starts off. "I know that we have several years to catch up on, but if you're willing… I'd like to try," she finishes with her trademark pout. "Please?"

Despite my better judgment and opening myself up to have my heart broken once again by the new Brittany, I reluctantly agree.

"_Okay_…" I state simply.

The mega-watt smile that appears on Brittany's face could light up the darkest room. Before I know what's happening, I'm engulfed in the tightest bear hug I've ever received. As my head gets buried into the crook of her neck, I can't help but get intoxicated off of her scent. It's still coconuts… after all of this time. Before I completely pass out and succumb to the temptation of pinning Brittany against the wall and having my way with her, I reluctantly open my mouth.

"Britt… can't… breathe…" I somehow manage to get out.

"Oh, sorry…" she giggles out while releasing her death grip on me. "I just got really excited!"

"I can tell…" I say, trying to take in some deep breaths to regulate my air flow. "Anyways, I gotta get back to the restaurant. If you and Lindsay have some time to stop by before leaving out, I'd love to cook for you again."

"Hmm… I'd love to, but I hear the waiting list is like months away to get a table," Brittany says playfully.

"I _think_ I might be able to squeeze you in…" I state back with a grin. "Come by around 8?"

"Okay, that sounds great… and I really didn't mean for that to rhyme," she states with a smile. I smile back at her and grab some stationery off of the desk to write my number on.

"I guess I'll see you later then?" I hesitantly ask.

"Most definitely!" Brittany responds.

"Okay then, bye Brittany…" I state.

"Bye Santana…" she replies.

I then exit Brittany's room and head back towards the restaurant. Giving Brittany my number and offering to see her again may have been a big mistake, but I don't care. The girl of my dreams is suddenly back in my life so I don't want to waste this opportunity. I know that I was very hesitant at first, but God has given me a second chance to get to know Brittany again so I'm taking it.

In the end, I may end up getting hurt again, but at least it won't be for a lack of trying. Besides, she lives in Lima and I live here so I know there's not a chance of me running into her randomly. A few calls or texts here and there shouldn't be too bad… _right?_

I guess we'll see.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! I hope that you don't mind that this is the third update in a week! Anyways, thanks to all of you guys for your support. I'm sorry about the cliffhangers too… generally, I'm not a big fan of them but they kinda tie in well with this story. Plus, I knew that I would be updating again this week so I thought it wasn't _too_ bad. Thanks again guys… you rock!

**Disclaimer:** Nope… still **DON'T** own Glee! What a shame…


	5. What Hurts The Most

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 5: What Hurts The Most**

As Santana left my hotel room, I couldn't stop the huge grin that was forming on my face. I don't know what it is, but I feel _so_ connected to her. Even though I don't remember her, I feel like I've known her all of my life. I know it's crazy, but honestly, I've never felt like this about anyone before.

Although I mostly enjoyed hearing about our past, I can't shake the feeling that Santana is hiding something from me. I could tell that talking about the accident still caused her so much pain. As much as I wanted to dig deeper, I didn't out of respect for her. I almost felt like if I tried to push her for more information, she would shut down and then I'd be left with even more unanswered questions.

A few minutes later, Lindsay returned with the food I was promised hours ago. I pretended to be mad at her, but she saw right through that. I thanked her for whatever she said to Santana that got her to come visit me and then we enjoyed a light snack in preparation for our special meal tonight.

When we arrived at Maribel's later that night, we received a knowing smile from Marley before Kurt escorted us to our table. Shortly after, Santana stopped by to say a quick _"hello"_ before she had to return to the kitchen, which made me sad. Fridays were definitely busy at Maribel's!

Before Santana had to leave, she did ask if it would be okay if Puck joined us. According to her, he was really excited when he heard that I was in town visiting and wanted to see me before I left. Although I still didn't remember him or anyone else from high school, I thought it would be nice to catch up with him since we used to be pretty good friends.

Once Puck arrived, we fell into a nice conversation. There weren't really any awkward pauses, except for when I tried to ask him some personal questions about Santana. Instead of answering my questions, he would deflect and usually find a way to quickly change the subject. I didn't understand his apprehension at first, but after a while, I just decided to give up. Once again, I got the feeling like he was holding something back, but I just let it go... for now.

* * *

As the night continued, we all enjoyed getting to know each other again while listening to some of the guests make their best attempt at karaoke. Puck and the bartender Jake – who is apparently his brother – did a song together, which was pretty awesome. Marley and Jake also did a duet that was just cute as can be. I think they're dating or that they like each other, at the very least.

When closing time hit, Santana and the other staff members I sort of knew stayed over so that we could all chat amongst ourselves. At one point, I noticed Santana and Puck having a somewhat intense conversation. Santana looked a bit conflicted, but Puck said something that seemed to ease her mind. I don't know how long I had been starring at them for, but I just couldn't help it... Santana was just_ so_ mesmerizing that it was hard to look away from her. That is until she caught me... my eyes immediately went wide. Santana, on the other hand, just flashed a quick smile at me before looking down at the floor. It almost seemed like she was being bashful, which I found completely adorable.

Finally around midnight, everyone parted ways. I told Marley that me and Lindsay would friend her on Facebook so that we could keep in touch. As we said goodbye to Santana, I hugged her tightly, not knowing when I would get to see her again. When our hug ended, I instantly felt sad at the loss of contact. For some reason, I wanted to hold her longer… maybe never let her go. Santana being in my arms just felt right, like it was something meant to be. Being near her just felt like 2 things that belonged together, like peanut butter and jelly or macaroni and cheese.

As we made it back to our hotel to rest before getting back on the road, I reflected on the events of the past week. I'm definitely glad that we made this trip and that I have the chance to re-connect with Santana. Although there are still some questions that are lingering inside my head, I'm content with the information that I did receive on this mini road trip. However, when I get back home, my parents have _a_ _lot_ of explaining to do.

* * *

Lindsay and I arrived back in Lima late Sunday night. Since Linds didn't have class until Tuesday morning, we stayed at my apartment and agreed to have dinner with our parents the following night.

There were so many things I wanted to ask them, but I didn't know where to start. First off, my mom straight up lied to my face when I had asked her about Santana. It would be one thing if she really didn't remember, but after all of the other stuff I learnt this past week, it's pretty fucking clear that she misled me on purpose. Although my dad_ technically_ didn't lie to me, he knew that my mom was and allowed her to do it. I don't think I've ever been this angry at my parents before. Hell, I don't think I've ever been mad at them at all.

The main thing I want to know is why? Why go through all of this trouble to keep my friends away from me? I get that I couldn't remember them, but these people obviously cared a lot about me and were pretty much told to piss off by my folks. I don't know how this dinner is gonna be, but as angry and hurt as I'm feeling right now... I'm guessing probably not well.

Since we've been back home from our mini adventure, Santana and I have been texting been back and forth. I initially just texted her to let her know that we had made it back safely, but then she actually texted me back and the conversation took off from there. We didn't get into anything deep, just mainly basic stuff like hobbies and some of our favorite things. I was actually surprised when she kept texting me back cuz I could tell she was a little hesitant in the first place when I had initially asked for her number. I still feel like she's hiding something from me, but in due time, maybe she'll trust me enough to let her guard down and let me in. I know she was hurt tremendously by everything that took place after the accident, but I hope she knows that by me coming back into her life, I don't intend on hurting her again.

So... we're all sitting down, eating dinner, while Lindsay fills our parents in on our trip. I'm selectively listening to the conversation going on around me while picking through my food. I can't even look at my mom right now cuz I'm still so angry that she lied to me.

"Sweetheart, is everything okay? You've hardly touched your food," my mom says to me. I flinch at the term of endearment.

When it comes to other people, I'm usually great at holding my tongue when they say something that I don't agree with or that makes me upset. _However_... right now, I don't think that's possible. I can't just sit here, smile, and nod politely when I _know_ that my own mother looked into my bright blue eyes and lied through her teeth about Santana.

"You know what mom? _No._.. everything's not okay!" I say, bile seeping through my voice.

"Um, okay..." she responds, apparently taken back by my tone. "What's on your mind?"

"Let's see..." I start off. "Lindsay probably _forgot_ to mention this, but guess who we _ran_ into while we were in LA?"

Before my mom has a chance to say whatever was on the tip of her tongue, I cut her off. _Technically_, I wasn't being rude cuz my question was rhetorical.

"Santana... you know, the girl _you_ told me that _you_ didn't know?" I state. My mom just sits there with a look of shock and utter confusion on her face.

"I, uh..." she begins to say. I cut her off again, clearly not in the mood to hear anymore of her fabrications.

"She was my best friend in high school..." I continue. "We even lived together in college!"

At this point, my mom's face scrunches up as if she's trying to think of an appropriate retort. However, I'm not done yet.

"And to top it all off... she's the one that was with me when I got into that accident," I say, tears beginning to build up. "She and all of my friends... _you_ kept them away from me!" I state louder.

"Brittany, I understand that you're upset..." my dad begins, "... but you will not speak to your mother in that tone."

"Oh, _now_ you finally have something to say Dad?!" I shoot back. "Where the hell was your voice 6 years ago?"

"Brittany..." my mom says sternly, defending my father.

"No! This is bullshit!" I start off again, standing up from the table. "You wanna know what the worst part is though?" I state, looking straight into my mom's eyes for the first time tonight. "You looked right at me and lied to my face when I asked you about Santana..." I say, then glance over to my dad's direction, "... and _you_ let her!"

At this point, both of my parents just have a look of shame on their faces. I can't take being here in the same room with them anymore. Lindsay just sits there with a solemn look on her face, flashing me an apologetic smile.

As I head towards the front door to get some air, I stop briefly to say one last thing to them.

"I can almost understand your primitive nature in wanting to protect me and shelter me from any harm caused by the aftermath of the accident..." I start off. "But, the one thing you always taught me was to be honest... and _you_ weren't. How am I supposed to believe _anything_ that comes out of your mouth now?"

My mom starts to open her mouth, but then quickly closes it. I would say that was probably the best decision she's made all day cuz honestly, I didn't want to hear one of her lame excuses. And as usual, my dad just sits there in silence. I always knew my mom wore the pants in their relationship, but dammit... there comes a time when you gotta say something!

* * *

As I make it outside, I realize that I left my keys inside of the house. Not wanting to go back in so soon, I just start walking around my old neighborhood, trying to calm down. I've never spoken to my parents like that, and I never intended to, but it's something that had to be said in the manner I said it. I didn't think a light and breezy tone would get my message across.

As I continued to walk, I thought about the one person who's been able to put a non-stop smile on my face for the past 2 weeks. I pulled out my phone and looked at the pic I secretly took of her on our last night in LA. I know that might sound a little creepy, but I needed a picture to go with her contact information. That's believable, _right?_

After starring at her pic for another few seconds, I finally decide to shoot her a text.

**Brittany:** _Hey San! I just wanted to see how your night was going so far.  
_  
Shortly after, I actually received a text back.

**Santana:** _Hey Britt! My night hasn't been too shabby. It's been pretty steady here. How bout you?_

I contemplated on whether or not I should bring up what had just happened with my parents. I had casually mentioned to her before about them pretending to not know who she was. It seemed to be a sore subject, which I completely get. I really didn't want to bring that up now though, especially while she was at work. However, I didn't want to be dishonest with her either, especially after that whole ordeal with my parents.

**Brittany:** _Shitty... I confronted my parents about lying to me when I asked who you were_

**Santana:** _Oh, wow... I'm sure that couldn't have been easy. What did they say?_

**Brittany:** _They really didn't say anything... didn't really give them a chance to. I've never been so upset with them before. I'm just kinda at a loss right now_

**Santana:** _I'm sorry Britt __. Anything I can do to help?_

I know that Santana was probably just asking to be nice, but there was actually something that she could do. I knew it was a long shot since she was probably busy at work, but she did ask...

**Brittany:** _Could I maybe call you? I just really need to hear your voice..._

I went back and forth for a couple of minutes before finally deciding to hit send. I knew it was an odd request, but at this moment, it was really all I wanted.

After a few minutes had passed by, I figured that I had probably crossed a line and weirded her out.

**Brittany:** _I know that was probably a weird thing to ask. Sorry if I freaked you out...  
_  
After another minute had passed, my phone lit up and her pictured displayed across the screen. _She was calling me! _As my smile grew wider, I bobbed my head to the chorus of _"22"_. _Yes_, I already assigned her a ringtone, and _no_... it's not creepy. I was so caught up in my own little world that I almost forgot to answer my phone.

"Hello?" I say, trying to contain my excitement.

"Hey... sorry it took me a minute to get back to you," she started off. "I had to find Blaine so that he could cover for me while I went on break."

"Aww, you didn't have to do that. I didn't mean for you to waste your break on me..." I reply as my heart secretly swooned over her gesture.

"It's okay, I _wanted_ to. I kinda miss hearing your voice too..." she says shyly. I think my heart just skipped a beat. After a moment of brief silence, she speaks again. "So, tell me what happened with your folks..."

I then replay the brief, but upsetting conversation that had just taken place with my parents. After that, we fell into a light chat about the blossoming romance between Marley and Jake. It was nice to hear her speak so highly of them and how she hoped that they worked out. Hearing her speak about how the two of them were _so_ perfect for each other made me want to find out more about her love life. I didn't ask though, seeing that I knew that our conversation would be ending shortly. Puck had mentioned that Santana was single, but didn't really go any further than that. It boggles my mind that she doesn't have someone special in her life cuz to me... she's a catch. Anyone that had her before and let her go is a moron!

At the end of our conversation, we promised to talk again soon. As I walked back towards my parents' house, not realizing that I just had a 30 minute conversation in front of some random person's house, I thought about what my next talk with Santana would entail. Thinking about her instantly made me feel better and not worry so much about the issues with my folks. I don't know what it is or how she does it, but Santana has this weird power over me. I don't mind it though... it's rather comforting.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back at the Pierce residence...  
_  
Lindsay remains seated across from her parents at the dinner table, shaking her head back and forth.

"Are you two really just gonna to sit there?" Lindsay asks incredulously. When her parents say nothing, she continues. "Hello? Brittany just left! Not only that, Brittany was ANGRY... I've never seen her angry before!"

"Lindsay, this really doesn't concern you," her mother finally says.

"The hell it doesn't!" Lindsay retorts, feeling herself getting frustrated. "For the past 2 weeks, I've been the one by her side, trying to help her figure out why there are all of these missing pieces in her life," she continues. "It was my idea to go to LA to meet Santana after you straight up lied about knowing her..."

"How did you even find her?" Mrs. Pierce asks.

"Through the magic of television!" Lindsay states sarcastically. She takes a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "She's a chef... we saw her on an episode of _Chopped_. Apparently she moved to LA after the accident."

Mr. and Mrs. Pierce share a look between each other, a look that shows the guilt they've had stored for the past 6 years.

"It was a total fluke, but when Brittany saw Santana on the TV screen, something resonated with her," Lindsay continues. "I thought she looked familiar, but I didn't remember her at first since it was such a long time ago. That was until I remembered the yearbook... the one that _you_ threw away..."

"_Oh_... I guess you found that?" Mrs. Pierce states.

"Yeah... I didn't know what it was at the time, but it seemed _too_ important to just be discarded in a trash bin," Lindsay replies. "Just help me understand Mom. I know you did what you did because you thought you were doing what was best for Britt at the time, but why lie about it?"

Mrs. Pierce takes a long, deep breath before responding.

"I don't know, I guess we figured since it had been so long... we could just keep up the lie," she replies honestly. "After so many years had gone by and we didn't hear anything from Santana, we figured she had just moved on. We never expected any of this to happen, _obviously_..."

"Look mom, I'm not stupid… and neither is Brittany," Lindsay starts off. "She may not have pieced it all together yet cuz obviously she's got a lot on her plate right now, but I know there's more to her relationship with Santana than either of you are letting on."

"When did you figure it out?" Mrs. Pierce asks.

"The minute I saw her face light up when she saw Santana on TV," Lindsay simply states with a shrug.

"She always did have that effect on Brittany," Mr. Pierce says.

"Why Santana didn't completely throw you two under the bus is beyond me. She's a better person than I am," Lindsay states. "Had it been me, I would've ran you over… and then put it in reverse."

"How do we make this right, Linds?" Mr. Pierce questions.

"I don't know Dad... that's something that you two are gonna have to figure out on your own," Lindsay responds. "What I can tell you is that you should leave Britney alone right now… she needs her space."

"That's understandable..." Mrs. Pierce replies.

"I'm gonna go find Brittany..." Lindsay states while heading towards the front door. "Even though you both totally screwed up, I still love you... and so does Britt. Just give her some time."

"Thanks kiddo... we love you too," Mr. Pierce responds.

* * *

As I sit on top of my car, I see Lindsay exiting the house and walking towards me.

"I brought your keys," she starts off. "How ya doing? You've been out here for a while..."

"I'm better than I was before... I talked to Santana," I state casually, not noticing the grin forming on my face.

"That seems about right, judging by the smile on your face," Lindsay replies smugly. "You really like her, huh?"

"Yeah, I really do..." I state simply.

"Mom and Dad are sorry, ya know?" Lindsay says.

"I'm _sure_ they are... it still doesn't change anything though," I respond.

"I know... maybe later on when you're up to it, you'll give them a chance to explain," she states.

"Maybe... but that day won't be today though," I state matter-of-factly.

"Fair enough," she replies. "So, this Santana thing... what are you gonna do about that?"

"I have no clue..." I respond. "I've learned a lot about her this past week and I wanna know more... but, I know she's hiding something. I just don't know how to go about finding out what that something is without her shutting down."

"Maybe you should try talking to someone who knew you both pretty well back then..." Lindsay suggests.

After pondering over it for a minute, I finally get it.

"You're a genius, Linds!" I exclaim.

"Yeah... I know," she states, not modest at all. I shake my head at her. She smiles in return.

* * *

After talking to Lindsay, I hopped in my car and finally arrive back at home. I immediately grab my laptop and open up the browser. Once I land on the Facebook website, I do a quick search and find who I'm looking for.

As I replay over in my head exactly what I want to say to this person, I finally type out a short message and hit send. I really hope this person _can_ and _is_ willing to help me out. I know we haven't spoken in years, but I definitely would like to change that.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys, it's time for another update! Thanks again for all of the love and support. A special shout out to the guest who left me a review this morning… you really inspired me to get this update out quicker. I originally had intended to finish up this chapter later on tonight, but after reading your awesome review, I had to do it now. Thanks again!

Stay Classy!

**Songs Used:**

_**22**_ by **Taylor Swift** _(honorable mention)_

**Disclaimer:** I own **NOTHING**!


	6. The Truth

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 6: The Truth**

When I woke up the next morning, I started going through my daily routine before I headed to my studio. Just out of curiosity, I checked my Facebook to see if I had any new alerts or messages. Sure enough, I had one new message from Quinn Fabray.

When I wrote to Quinn last night, I kept my message as simple as possible, but still meaningful. I basically just said something along the lines of:

_"Hey Quinn! I know this is probably out of the blue since we haven't seen nor spoken to each other in years, but I would like to change that. I'm sure that Santana's already filled you in on the craziness that has been this past week, which is kind of what I wanted to talk to you about. Although I'm still trying to re-learn about all of you guys, I feel like I'm heading in the right direction. With that being said, there are still so many questions that have yet to be answered. Although I already feel so close to Santana, I can tell that she's holding back something from me. I guess that's where you come in... you know her better than anybody and have been there for her during the years when I unfortunately could not be. I want nothing more than to get back to that place with her, but I need your help. Please help me Quinn, please."_

I wasn't really sure if she would write me back and I definitely wasn't expecting it to be so soon, but I'm glad she did. As I take a deep breath, I slowly click on the red message icon to read what she wrote. It wasn't very long, but said everything that I needed to hear:

_"Brittany... OMG! It's so great to hear from you! We have so much to catch up on! I have spoken to Santana and I was glad to hear that you've been doing well. Yes, there are lots of things that you still need to be filled in on and I'm happy to help in any way I can. Give me your # and I'll call you later tonight!"_

I immediately sent Quinn a message back with my number attached to it. Not even a minute later, a new notification popped up on my screen. As I opened it, I saw that it was a friend request from Quinn, which I instantly accepted. After that, I closed my laptop and made my way to work with a huge smile on my face.

Today I will finally get some of these burning questions answered.

* * *

My classes had gone well for the most part. All of the kids I taught had a good grasp on the choreography. I think their main issue was towards the beginning because I hadn't been there last week to smoothly integrate the new steps since I was out of town. Sometimes I think my kids are spoiled cuz when I'm not there to teach them, they end up slacking off with whatever instructor is there filling in for me.

After I closed the dance studio for the day, Lindsay and I met up for dinner before I came back home. After I cleaned up a little bit around the apartment, I heard the distinct tone of my phone going off.

As I picked it up, I scrunched up my eyebrows when I realized that I didn't recognize the number. I then noticed that the area code was from New York and suddenly everything clicked.

"Hello?" I said, answering the phone.

"Brittany?" the voice on the other end responds.

"Quinn!" I reply back.

After the initial _"is this really you?"_ part of the conversation was over, Quinn and I exchanged pleasantries and talked about various things.

As I attempted to shift the conversation in a more serious direction, Quinn stopped me. She said that she would tell me anything I wanted to know about Santana, but she preferred to do it in person. I was disappointed at first because I still didn't have the answers I was looking for, but I eventually agreed that this was a conversation that should take place in person.

After discussing our schedules, we decided that it would be easier for me to come out to New York to visit her. Quinn was in the process of becoming a very successful lawyer at her young age of 26. Being in the first year of her new job meant that her workload was pretty heavy and even more difficult to take a spur of the moment vacation. With that in mind, it just made more sense for me to come to her since I was the one that was looking for answers. Plus, it would be nice to see the city again that I used to live in with her and Santana.

As we talked about when this little reunion would take place, I informed Quinn that it would probably be a few weeks from now since me and Lindsay had just gotten back from LA and tickets to NY aren't cheap. Sensing my eagerness, and probably the fact that she makes _a lot_ more money than I do, Quinn offered to pay for my return flight if I took care of my flight getting there. She also said that I could stay with her so I didn't have to get a hotel.

Astounded by her generosity, I quickly agreed and started looking for flights immediately. With Quinn still on the phone, I booked my flight for the end of the week.

"Alrighty, I'm all set!" I state excitedly. "See you Friday night!"

"Sounds great! Can't wait to see you Britt!" Quinn replied.

And with that, the call ended. I immediately texted Lindsay to fill her in on the new developments. She was excited for me, but also sad that she couldn't come with me. I told her that we would go visit the city together sometime in the future, perhaps during the summer. That seemed to appease her.

* * *

The rest of the week went by _extremely_ slow. I still hadn't talked to my parents since that dinner on Monday. Honestly, I had nothing to say to them. I told Lindsay that I didn't care whether or not she told our parents about my impromptu trip... I was an adult and they had no say on how I spent my money or where I went.

When Friday hit, I surprised Lindsay at school for lunch. We had a nice chat before the bell rung and she had to go back to class. Before she left, she told me to remain open-minded and to not jump to any conclusions before I had all of the information in front of me. I didn't know exactly what it was that she was referring to, but I felt it was a very profound thing for a 17 year old to say.

After I taught my last class of the day, I went home to shower, finish packing, and then made my way to the airport. 2 hours later, I was back in the city that I once called home.

* * *

After Quinn picked me up from the airport, we grabbed a bite to eat before heading back to her place. She had a nice little place in Lower Manhattan, which was extremely close to her job. Apparently, when I used to live there, we shared an apartment that was near Washington Square Park, which was close to NYU where she and Santana went. I had a little bit of a commute to Julliard, but I guess that was fair since 2 out of 3 of us went to NYU. Plus, my school was near Central Park so I'm fairly certain that I didn't mind going there to feed the ducks to pass the time.

I asked Quinn what Santana had been studying before she decided to move to LA and enroll in culinary school, but she deflected my question. Instead, she told me to just be patient and that everything would make sense soon. I could've gotten frustrated with her because it seemed like I had been getting that response a lot lately, but I remained calmed and decided to trust her. Besides, I was staying at her place and that would just be awkward if I flipped out on her.

As we continued to talk, Quinn informed me a little more about what her job actually entailed. Apparently, she was one of the Solicitor's for State Court and worked closely with NYPD's finest. At the moment, she only worked on misdemeanor cases, being that she was still fairly new. I remember Santana telling me how smart Quinn was and how she worked so hard that she managed to graduate a year early and at the top of her class. After that, of course, came law school. With the same work ethic, she was able to stay on top of her work and practically aced the Bar. With all of her hard work, she finally managed to land a job at State Court, thus beginning the journey of her very promising career.

Quinn then suggested that before we dove into the conversation about Santana that I'd been dying to have, perhaps I should visit the police station to learn more about the accident that started this whole mess. She stated that she had developed a good working relationship with Lieutenant Schuester, whom was a rookie cop back then and worked my case. Quinn said that once I learned all of the ins and outs of the accident, then whatever questions I had for her and whatever extra information she had to give me would make much more sense. Again, I trusted her and agreed to meet with him first thing in the morning.

* * *

Since Quinn lived so close to the precinct, we decided to walk there. Once we arrived, I was surprised to be greeted by a fairly attractive man in his late 20's dressed in regular clothing. I guess with him being a lieutenant, I kinda expected someone older and in a uniform. As we entered his office, he smiled and stood up from his desk to greet us.

"Good morning, Lt. Schuester. Thanks for meeting with us," Quinn stated.

"Quinn… we're friends, ya know," he starts out. "You don't have to be so formal…"

"You're right, I'm sorry _Will_…" Quinn states playfully. "This is my friend Brittany."

"Of course, Brittany… pleasure to finally meet you," Will says to me.

"You too! Thanks again for doing this," I reply back. "I'm guessing this isn't one of your normal work days," I state, commenting on his casual attire.

"No, but I don't mind. Plus, I don't live to far from here, so really… it was no trouble at all," he responds.

As he gestures for us to sit down, he resumes his position behind his desk. I study his face to see if I can find a trace of familiarity in it, but sadly, I don't. Even though he worked the accident, I guess I never got to officially meet him since I was unconscious on scene and then remained in a coma for a week after that. Apparently after I woke up and was well enough, my parents whisked me away back to Lima.

"So, Brittany… how much _do_ you remember about that night?" Will asks me.

"Nothing really, just what I've been told by other people," I reply. "Pretty much, I know that the car I was in got T-boned and I suffered a lot of injuries because of it."

"Yes, you certainly did," he stated as he handed me some papers. "This is a copy of the accident report and all of the pictures that were taken on scene and at the hospital. I'm gonna give you some time to look through it while I go make us coffee."

"Britt… do you want me to stay here with you while you go through it?" Quinn asked.

"No… I think I'll be okay. Thanks," I reply.

Quinn then stands up from her chair and gently squeezes my shoulder before exiting the room with Will. Honestly, it would've been nice to have Quinn there for moral support, but since I had no idea on what I would be uncovering, I decided it would be best to take this initial step alone.

As I read over the report, I saw a lot of technical terms like "failure to obey", "driver 1", and "traffic control device", which I had no clue on what they meant. I then saw mine and Santana's name listed in the report, along with the name of the other driver, _Rory Flanagan_. Under his name, there was all of the information about him and his vehicle. I also saw the word "alcohol" pop up a few times. I then got to the pictures, which nearly broke me.

The severe damaged done to Santana's vehicle was unbelievable… it's a wonder that we made it out of there alive. Then, seeing the pictures of both of us at the hospital just hurt my heart. Santana looked so beaten, but at least she was conscious and alert. Still… it sucked to see her like that. The pictures of me were especially hard to see because my body is just so badly damaged and lifeless. I can't imagine how it was for my family, Quinn, or Santana to see me in such a state.

* * *

As Quinn and Will come back into the room, I quickly wipe away the wetness from my eyes. Although it's pretty obvious that I had been crying, I still didn't want either of them to see my tears.

"Here ya go Britt," Quinn says, handing me a cup of coffee. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah… those photos were just really rough to look at," I respond.

"Do you need a minute?" Will asks.

"No, I'm good… can you kinda talk me through this," I start off. "There is a lot of police lingo in here that I don't really understand…"

"Yeah… sorry about that," he says with a small smile.

Will then proceeds to tell me about that night in layman's terms. Basically, Santana and I were at a 4-way intersection, heading Northbound. When our light turned green, we proceeded forward until our car was struck by Mr. Flanagan's truck heading Westbound in the other lane. Apparently, Mr. Flanagan was drunk, speeding, and not paying attention, which caused him to blow through his red light and hit me and Santana. The impact of the collision was so catastrophic that it caused our vehicle to flip over.

"What ended up happening to the other driver?" I pondered.

"He didn't sustain any major injuries, but he was arrested that night for DWI and a few other things. Being under 21, in the state of New York, the legal limit to be charged for driving under the influence is .02… Mr. Flanagan blew a .10 on the State breathalyzer test," Will stated.

_Holy shit!_ That's 5 times the legal limit… that dude was hammered!

"He ended up taking a plea for all of his charges," he continued. "Since he was a first-time offender, the judge put him on probation for 3 years, until he turned 21, and fined him $5,000. His license was also suspended for a year and he was mandated to do a set number of hours of community service and attend a program for alcohol treatment."

Although it sounded like Mr. Flanagan had to pay a lot for the crimes that he committed, it still didn't sound nearly enough compared to the hell that I had to go through for the past 6 years, along with the people closest to me. Not only that, but we could've been killed! How is that fair? How is any of this fair? I guess more than anything, I should just be thankful that I still have my health.

"In all my years on the force, I've seen _a lot_ of bad accidents… but yours has always stuck with me," Will says. "I think maybe it's because it was the first major accident I had worked, only being on the road for 3 weeks."

I can't imagine what that must have been like for him, especially being so new to the force. I remember him telling me how when he arrived on scene, our car had been engulfed by flames. Apparently I had been trapped inside of the car after my seat belt broke during the collision. Will stated that Santana had used a broken piece of glass to cut the seat belt off of me and then managed to carry me to safety while I was unconscious. I remember seeing a picture of a laceration on Santana's hand, but I just assumed that was from the accident. I also remember Santana telling me about the accident, but she didn't mention all of that stuff that I had just found out.

"Anyways, I was extremely happy when I heard that you had pulled through," Will continued. "Honestly, if it hadn't been for your girlfriend, you probably wouldn't have made it… she saved your life."

As I let Will's words sink it, I think back on just how lucky I was that night that Santana was there. And he's right… based on everything I've learned about the accident, I would've been an extra crispy corpse if I remained in that car.

Wait… did he just refer to Santana as my _girlfriend?_ And the way he said it, it sounded more than just talking about a girl who is my friend.

"My _girlfriend?_" I question.

Will's eyebrows raise as he looks over a Quinn, who looks down and starts playing with the fabric of her cardigan.

"Yeah…" Will trails off, flipping through the pages of the report, "… Ms. Lopez, right? I meant to ask you earlier… how has she been?"

I feel like I'm at a complete loss for words right now. As I look over at Quinn, she slowly looks up from her lap and looks at me with a sad smile. Suddenly, everything piece of knowledge I had acquired over the past 3 weeks was starting to make sense. What Santana was hiding from me, what my parents probably didn't want me to find out, why Quinn wanted to wait until after this meeting to explain everything to me… all of these things were directly tied to the much deeper relationship I had with Santana, but couldn't remember.

"She's doing well, thanks for asking," I finally respond to Will, playing along. It's pretty obvious that Quinn didn't disclose that bit of information to him cuz that would've just been extremely more complicated that everything already was.

"Before I forget…" Will starts to say, reaching into his bottom desk drawer, "these are some of your personal effects from the hospital," he says, handing me a bag with a few miscellaneous items. "A few weeks after the accident, I went back by the hospital to check on you, but you had already been discharged. Your nurse, Emma, said that you had left those behind. She thought someone should have them…"

"What does she look like? I'm trying to remember her," I inquire.

"She has red hair and big, beautiful hazel eyes…" Will states, lighting up a bit. "She's actually my wife now… that's how we met."

I smile at Will, happy that out of all bad shit that spawned from the accident, at least one good thing happened. As happy as I am for him though, a part of me can't help but feel jealous when I think about all that I lost, all that was _stolen_ from me… and Santana.

As I look through the bag, I see a couple of rings – nothing fancy though –, a hair tie, some multi-colored rubber bracelets, and much nicer bracelet. As I pull out the nicer bracelet, I noticed that it has 2 bronze charms attached to it: a unicorn and an anchor. The charms are separately attached to 2 green wax cords and in between them is a yellow braided bracelet. All 3 bands are held together by the clasp of the bracelet, which is beautiful. It looks so familiar and I'm sure it has some significant meaning behind it.

"Thank you, Will… you've really helped me out a lot," I state sincerely.

"It was my pleasure…" he says. "Take care of yourself."

"I will," I simply reply, giving him an appreciative smile.

* * *

The walk back to Quinn's loft was very quiet. Then came lunch, which was also eaten in silence. There were so many things running through my head that I didn't know where to start. As Quinn and I sat down on her couch, the silence was finally broken.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you before…" Quinn begins. "I just didn't feel like it was my place… I still don't, but I think you've been kept in the dark long enough."

"So… Santana was my girlfriend?" I state more than ask. Quinn nods.

"You guys were in love… completely inseparable," she states. "When we all first started hanging out, I always felt like there was something there between you two, but nothing ever happened until we started college..."

Quinn then goes on to tell me about her version of what took place Freshman year. She vividly recalls how after she came home that Friday night, Santana pulling her into her room and telling her all about how she kissed me and I kissed her back. Quinn said that Santana was so excited and basically jumping up and down like a little school girl, which is just adorable. Apparently, I was taking a shower when all of this took place and did the same thing shortly after. However, I knew nothing of her plans to ask me out on a date the next evening. Quinn said that she advised Santana to just keep it simple, but to make it special in a way that was specifically tailored for me.

* * *

_**Flashback – September 2005, Freshman year**_

_After enjoying a cinematic adventure of __**The 40-Year-Old Virgin**__, Santana opted to cook dinner for her and Brittany. After enjoying a delicious meal of Spaghetti and Meatballs, Brittany's favorite, Santana thought it would be a good idea for them to talk about this new direction their relationship was heading._

"_So… did you have a good time tonight?" Santana asks shyly._

"_Of course, silly…" Brittany giggles, "I always have fun with you!"_

"_Good, I'm glad…" Santana responds. "So, where do we go from here?"_

"_Well… I definitely don't want to do __**anything**__ that's gonna jeopardize our friendship…" Brittany starts. Santana nods her head in agreement._

"_Yeah, I don't want that either…" she states sadly, assuming the worse. "I guess it would make more sense for us to be __**just friends**__ since we live together now…"_

_Brittany grabs Santana's hand and tilts the Latina's chin up so that she's looking at her._

"_San… I think you took what I said out of context," Brittany states. "Although I'm a little scared of what this will mean for our friendship, I __**want**__ to give us a try… I wanna be with you."_

_Santana's face instantly lights up as she leans in forward and captures Brittany's lips. The two share a passionate kiss as the remnants of their friendship slowly transforms into something much deeper._

"_I wish I would've told you how I felt a long time ago…" Santana says. "I guess I was scared too."_

"_You don't have to be anymore… I've got you," Brittany says, bringing Santana in for another searing kiss._

_Before things can get too heated, Santana pulls away, hops off the couch, and sprints down the hallway towards her room. When she returns, it's clear that she is hiding something in her hand._

"_Britt… you're my best friend and like the best thing that's ever happened to me," she begins. "I treasure our friendship more than you'll ever know… " Santana continues, opening her hand to reveal a bracelet with a unicorn and anchor charm attached to it._

"_San…" Brittany starts to say, her eyes beginning to water._

"_Just let me get this out, okay?" Santana states. Brittany nods her head as Santana hooks the bracelet around her wrist. "You keep me grounded Britt… and you're most definitely one of a kind," she says with a smile. "Brittany… will you be my girlfriend?"_

_Brittany just stares at Santana with complete adoration before whispering "yeah" and bringing their lips together once again. Neither of the girls had ever been happier in their lives._

* * *

"After that, you're relationship continued to blossom," Quinn states. "I was so jealous cuz I wanted what you guys had, but I just didn't have the time or even someone in my life that I was remotely attracted to. Instead, I just through myself into school."

Hearing Quinn's longing for someone special in her life made me sad. She's an amazing person and friend. She definitely deserves to have someone she can share her life with. I just hope she doesn't miss out on a possible opportunity with how hard she works.

"Obviously you didn't have any problems with us dating," I begin, "how did everyone else respond?"

"For the most part, everyone was cool. I think most people were just surprised that it took you guys so long to finally admit your feelings to each other," Quinn chuckles out. "The only people that really ever had a problem with it were your parents…" she mumbles.

That would make sense, seeing how everything after the incident played out.

"I don't think your parents ever came out and said that they were against you two dating, but there was definitely a change in their attitude towards Santana every time we saw them after that, like during the holidays and school breaks," Quinn states. "I think for your parents, there kinda just went with the _"out of sight, out of mind"_ approach whenever it came to you guys."

"I guess me losing part of my memory really played into their favor then…" I state solemnly, putting the pieces together.

"Sadly, I'd have to agree…" Quinn replies. "I'm not trying to bad mouth your parents, but I think when you couldn't remember anything about your life here or your actual relationship with Santana, they jumped at the opportunity to get you away from here as quickly as possible. It was almost like they had been given a reset button…"

It's sad to think that my folks took a horrible situation and actually made it even worse, unbeknownst to me. They capitalized on my vulnerable state and inability to remember the girl that meant everything to me for their own selfish reasons.

"Is that the real reason why Santana left New York…" I ask softly, my voice slightly breaking. Quinn sadly nods her head.

"She sat by your bedside and held your hand every day you were in the coma," Quinn starts off. "She even sung your favorite Maroon 5 song to you cuz she knew how much you loved that part about rainbows and butterflies," she continues. "When you woke up and didn't remember her, she was heartbroken…"

My heart breaks hearing this. I can't even begin to imagine how Santana must have felt to see me in such a state and probably think the worst. But then, to have me finally wake up and have no clue about who she was… that must've been devastating.

The waterworks had started running down my face long ago. Sensing that I really wasn't in the best condition to respond, Quinn continued.

"Santana was majoring in Music at NYU. She wanted to be a singer…" Quinn said, peaking my interest. "She has this really amazing voice, but after the accident… it just hurt her too much to sing anymore. After your parents force her to stay away from you, she lost her passion for it. For Santana, singing to her is like what dancing is to you…"

"But why didn't she ever try to contact me then? Why didn't you or Puck try either?" I mumble out, emotions running high.

"We wanted to. Trust me… we _really_ wanted to, but out of respect for Santana, we didn't," she responds. Sensing my confusion, she continues. "Santana didn't fight harder for you because she felt like she didn't deserve you… she blamed herself for the accident."

"That doesn't make any sense," I state shaking my head. "How could she possibly think that our car getting hit by a drunk driver was her fault?"

Quinn takes a deep breath before responding.

"She's gonna kill me for telling you this, but oh well…" Quinn starts off. "That night was supposed to be one of the best of your lives…"

"Now you've completely lost me," I state.

I'm trying hard to keep up, but my head is starting to hurt with every new bit of information I am discovering. My vision has also been compromised with all of the tears that have been falling from my eyes.

"That night was just a few months shy of your 2 year anniversary… however, Santana couldn't wait any longer," Quinn starts again. "While San was distracting you with dinner, I was back at the apartment setting candles everywhere to set the mood for when you guys returned…"

"Quinn, what the hell are you trying to say?" I finally ask, cutting her off.

"Santana was gonna propose!" Quinn blurts out.

My eyes go wide.

"She was gonna give you a ring with the promise of replacing it with an actual engagement ring once you guys graduated," she continues. "She originally wanted to stay at home and cook, but you were so excited about going to that new restaurant that she changed her plans. Because of that, you two were in a car that she was driving when some asshole hit you… she blames herself because you guys would've been at home if she wouldn't have changed her original plans…" Quinn states, completely breaking down at this point.

I scoot closer to her on the couch and hold her while I sob like a little school girl as well. All of this is just too much. Although Santana and I were the only ones that were physically affected by the car accident, I never considered the emotional damage it caused. Sure, Quinn wasn't my girlfriend like Santana, but she was my best friend. Hearing that her 2 closest friends were in a car accident while she was back at our apartment waiting for us to return couldn't have been easy

After a few minutes, the tears eventually subsided and Quinn found her voice again.

"After you left, Santana just couldn't be here anymore… everything about this place just reminded her of you and what she had lost," she states. "You and music were the only 2 things that she was genuinely passionate about and she lost them both on the same day," Quinn continues. "She stopped caring about everything, including herself. She eventually dropped out of school since she had stopped going altogether anyways. With all of that going on, I knew that trying to reach out to you would only cause more pain, especially if you eventually ended up remembering me, but not her…"

"I had no idea…" I whisper out.

All of this time, Santana was suffering so much and I was completely oblivious to it.

"We're all very thankful that you lived through all of the terrible things that happened as a result of that accident. However, a _part_ of Santana died that day," Quinn says. "She's gotten a lot better since, but she definitely hasn't been the same without you."

I'm trying my best not to tear up again before my body shuts down from severe dehydration. I can definitely see why Quinn didn't want to have this conversation over the phone.

"Eventually, her mom was able to pull her out of her deep depression and bring her somewhat back to life. That's when she decided to move to Cali and try to get some normalcy back in her life," Quinn continues. "When she shot that episode for _Chopped_, that was the first time she had been back in New York since the accident. I think it was a very much needed step for her to take."

"What am I supposed to do now, Quinn?" I questioned, really not having the slightest clue.

"I don't know, Britt… it's obvious that you and San have a lot to talk about though," she replies.

* * *

As night time fell, I lie wide awake in bed replaying everything bit of information I had learnt over the past 3 weeks. As I lie here, I nervously twirl a ring around my finger. It was _the_ ring that Santana was going to give me that night. It was just a simple silver band that had _"Forever yours, proudly so!"_ engraved on the inside of it. I had found it in a box of various pictures and memorabilia from our relationship that Quinn had given to me after our talk. All of the items were things that Santana had left behind when she moved away, probably because they would've just brought back sad memories of how happy her life used to be.

When morning comes, I'm still wide awake cuz I never went to sleep last night. How could I? Quinn makes us breakfast before driving me to the airport. I thank her for everything and promise to keep in touch. As I sit in my seat, headed back to Lima, there's one question that is still burning in my mind…

_Does Santana still love me?_

I know that it's crazy to think after all of these years, but that doesn't mean that it's not possible. We were best friends and then girlfriends. We were in love. She was going to propose. All of these facts coupled with her initial reaction when she saw me again in the restaurant seem to point in the same direction. But what does that all mean? Only she can answer that.

_But, what about me? How do I feel?_

Although I'm still trying to sort through all of these different emotions, there is one thing that I do know for sure… Santana was brought back in my life for a reason. Call it fate or a coincidence… whatever, I don't care. It happened and I will not take that for granted. There's a reason why I haven't been able to stop thinking about her for the past 3 weeks. Now… it's time for me to do something about it.

_But what?_

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Guess what… another update! I know this one is a lot longer than the other chapters but it's only because there was _so_ much information to sort through. Anyways, hope you guys enjoy it. And to answer your question Guest: yes, the shout out was to you! Also, the last chapter's title was in reference to the Rascal Flatts' song. In fact, all of my chapters are named after songs that somewhat go with the flow of that particular chapter. Thank again to all of you guys for reading my stories!

**Songs used:**

_**She Will Be Loved**_ by **Maroon 5** _(honorable mention)_

**Disclaimer:** I own **NOTHING!**


	7. Cry

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 7: Cry**

It had been nearly a week since Brittany had visited Quinn and filled her in on why Santana had been absent from her life for the last 6 years. Quinn and Brittany also got a chance to re-connect and re-establish their friendship. They had both decided not to mention Brittany's visit to Santana until after it had taken place for fear of her reaction.

Although Quinn had spoken to Santana through text messages since Brittany's visit, she felt that this was a conversation that needed to be in person... or at least as close to that as possible. Thank God for FaceTime!

_"You did what?!"_ Santana exclaims after being caught up on the past week of her best friend's life. "What the fuck, Quinn! Why the hell would you tell her?"

"Cuz she deserved to know," Quinn simply states, controlling her tone in an attempt to calm Santana down. "She _had_ the right to know. Plus, I didn't think you'd have the balls to tell her."

"I would've told her, eventually..." Santana states a little more calmly.

"Santana..." Quinn replies in a knowing voice.

"Okay, okay... maybe I wouldn't have," she starts again. "Even if I wanted to, it's all just too soon. We're only _just_ starting to get to know each other again..."

"I know San, but she knew something was up," Quinn states. "Between her parents lying to her and you holding back, what other option did she have?"

Santana looks away from the screen, knowing that Quinn is right.

"San... I know that you've been hurting all of this time," she begins, "but so has Brittany. She _physically_ went through hell to get to where she is today. And now... she's probably right back at that same place, only mentally now."

"I just wasn't ready for her to know yet," Santana states. "I wanted to build on this new foundation we just formed... how am I supposed to face her now?"

"Just look at her boobs... that's what I do," Quinn responds with a straight face.

A few seconds of silence pass by before Santana loses it and starts laughing uncontrollably. Quinn joins in shortly after.

"There is something seriously wrong with you," Santana finally responds.

"I know... that's why you love me," Quinn replies matter-of-factly. "In all seriousness though, what happens now?"

"What do you mean?" Santana questions.

"You know _exactly_ what I mean," Quinn says.

"I don't know... what do you want from me Q?"

"This has nothing to do with me... this is about you and Brittany," she replies. "What do _you_ want, San?"

Santana closes her eyes and takes in a deep breath of air. Quinn can see the pain written all over her friend's face.

"I want my girlfriend back... I want the last 6 years of our lives back," Santana responds, her voice breaking.

"San... although those 6 years are lost, look at the opportunity that you have now," Quinn begins. "You have a chance to know_ this_ Brittany."

Santana pauses before responding. It's clear that she is struggling with this entire situation.

"What if... what if I can't get her to fall in love with me again?" Santana says, voice laced with pain and sorrow.

"Who says she already hasn't?" Quinn retorts.

"How could that be possible when she didn't even know I existed until like a month ago?" Santana asks incredulously.

"Maybe she just needed to be reminded of who you were," Quinn starts off. "For the past month, the only thing Brittany has done is try to find out as much as possible about you. I don't know about you, but I certainly wouldn't waste that kind of time on someone I didn't care about."

Santana scrunches her face, thinking about the implications of Quinn's statements.

"In reality, Brittany may never _remember_ that part of your relationship back then," Quinn continues, "but that doesn't mean that you guys can't make new memories."

"That sounds all very nice and dandy Q, but it's not that simple... we're different people now," Santana responds.

"You guys were both given a raw deal, but deep down, you're still the same Britt and San that I remember... just a little older now with less acne," Quinn states.

Santana giggles while shaking her head at her best friend.

"Listen S... I'm gonna tell you something and if you _ever_ repeat it, I will deny it until my very last breath," Quinn states.

Santana raises her eyebrow and gives her a questioning look before nodding her head.

"For the longest time, I was jealous of you and Brittany..." Quinn starts off. "It wasn't because I wanted to date one of you, but just the simple fact that you two were so obviously made for each other... I wanted that, still do..." she continues. "Never in my life have I seen two people look at each other the way you guys did. I believe it's still there..."

Santana's eyes begin to water as she tries her hardest not to let a tear fall. She hated crying in front of people... she hated crying in general.

"You and Britt are soul mates. You know it, I know it, your mom knows it..." Quinn continues. "And even though Brittany has lost those crucial memories of moments you once shared together, somewhere deep inside... she knows it too!"

Santana is now visibly crying, streams of tears flowing down as she tries to cover her face from Quinn.

"San... look at me," Quinn states. Santana shakes her head with her hands still covering her face. "Santana, look at me," the blonde says more firmly.

After a few seconds, Santana finally gives in and looks up at her best friend.

"It's okay to cry San... you don't have to be strong all of the time," Quinn says sincerely. "In fact... I think you've been strong for entirely too long."

"I just..." Santana sniffles out. "I don't wanna lose her again."

"I know you don't babe..." Quinn states. "You're in control this time."

"I'm in control..." Santana repeats to herself like a mantra, "I'm in control."

Quinn smiles back at Santana, finally feeling like she's getting through to the Latina.

"By the way... it was very big of you to admit that you're jealous of me," Santana states with a smirk. All Quinn can do is shake her head.

* * *

After her conversation with Quinn, Santana finds herself aimlessly wondering throughout her apartment until she ends up in front of her vanity. As she looks down at her jewelry box, she immediately opens it and finds the panda ring in her hand again.

As she holds the ring inside the palm of her hand, Santana thinks about how significant it is.

* * *

_**Flashback - September 2005, Freshman year**_

_After Brittany agreed to be Santana's girlfriend, the two spent several minutes making out, celebrating their new found relationship. After the need for oxygen became apparent, the two girls reluctantly pulled away from each other, neither one of them being able to stop the goofy smiles from forming on their faces._

_Since it was a nice night out, the girls decided to walk to the nearest grocery store, hand-in-hand, to pick up some items to make dessert. As Santana picked out the various ingredients to make sundaes with, she wondered where Brittany had disappeared to._

_Once Santana reached the checkout line, she spotted Brittany at the gumball machines near the exit. After paying for the supplies, Santana made her way towards her girlfriend and was surprised to see a little group of small plastic containers pooling around the blonde's feet._

_"Britt, what are you doing?" Santana asks, amused at the sight in front of her._

_Brittany looked like she was concentrating so hard on getting a specific prize out of the machine. As Santana glanced at the miscellaneous items that Brittany had already gotten, she figured the blonde had spent at least 5 dollars in quarters already._

_"Aha... gotcha!" Brittany exclaims as she quickly opens the plastic container, retrieving its contents._

_"Babe, why did you waste so much money on that machine?" Santana inquires._

_Brittany blushes at the term of endearment, but quickly recovers._

_"So that I could get this..." she says, holding out a ring that had a panda on it. "I know it isn't anything compared to this beautiful bracelet you gave me, but I really wanted to get you something in return..."_

_Santana has a puzzling look on her face as she tilts her head to the side._

_"From now on, whenever you're having a bad day, just look at this ring and think of me..." Brittany explains, "then you won't be a sad little panda anymore."_

_Santana's heart swoons as she leans in and gives Brittany a soft peck to her lips._

_"Thank you, Brittany..." she begins, "as long as I have you by my side, I'll never be sad again."_

* * *

_**I kept my distance so you would be free**_

Santana tightens her grip on the ring in her hand, never wanting to let go of that precious memory of the beginning of her and Brittany's relationship. She was so caught up in the distant memory that she hadn't realized the irony of the lyrics from the soft music playing in the background.

_**And hoped that you'd find the missing piece**_

As she makes it over to her bed, she lies down, hugging her pillow tightly. As she slowly closes her eyes, more distinctive memories flow through her mind.

_**To bring you back to me**_

* * *

_**Flashback - October 2005, Freshman year**_

_After a month of dating, Santana and Brittany were in complete bliss. Santana had never felt like this before in all of her 18 years of life._

_The two girls were just lying on the couch on a Wednesday night, watching TV while Quinn was at one of her late classes. While Brittany laid on top of Santana with her head on her chest, the Latina stroked her hair softly._

_As the edited version of __**Can't Hardly Wait**__ played on the TV screen, Santana can't help but think of how perfect Preston is for Amanda without her even knowing it. Seeing that she's seen the movie over a gazillion times, she's happy that the two of them end up together… even if it took them 4 years._

_"The day I ran into you in the hallway was one of the best days of my life... still is," Santana says softly. "It was September 1st at approximately 9:02 am..."_

_Brittany tightens her hold on Santana to let her know that she's listening._

_"The moment I met you, I thought that you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen," Santana continues. "The first time I felt your hand in mine, I knew we were a perfect fit."_

_Brittany turns her head away from the TV and rests her chin on Santana's sternum, looking up at her. Santana repositions her hands to rest on the blonde dancer's back._

_"I can't believe you remember all of that stuff," Brittany says softly._

_"I remember everything about that day from being mesmerized by your eyes, enchanted by your smile, delighted by your personality, and feeling the rush of electricity flow through my body the first time our hands touched," Santana says sincerely. "I remember every last detail because that was the day I fell for you..."_

_Brittany's eyes begin to water as she looks back into her girlfriend's eyes, letting every word that was just spoken sink in._

_"I know that this might seem too fast or a bit sudden, but it's not for me cuz I've felt like this since Day 1," Santana continues, tucking a piece of loose hair behind the blonde's ear. "I love you, Brittany."_

_Brittany slowly rises from Santana's chest and sits up on the couch in a seated position with her feet on the ground. Santana follows suit, turning her body towards Brittany and tucking her right leg underneath her butt._

_Santana can see the wetness gathering on Brittany's cheek. She begins to panic internally since her girlfriend has yet to say anything._

_"Britt..." she says hesitantly, unsure of what will happen next._

_"I love you too..." Brittany finally says, turning her body towards the Latina. "I am **so **freaking in love with you, Santana!"_

_Before Santana has a chance to respond, the presence of Brittany's lips on hers stops any form of words that were about to escape. As Santana smiles into the kiss, a silent tear of happiness falls down Brittany's face as she gently resumes her earlier position on top of her girlfriend. Santana moans at the closeness and the sudden sensation of Brittany's tongue massaging hers._

_As things continue to heat up between them, the girls make their way down the hallway towards Santana's room, never breaking the kiss. Once inside, they land on her bed with Santana straddling Brittany. As the two of them go a bit further and start to explore each other's bodies with their hands, they both reach the general consensus that there were entirely too many of articles of clothing in between them._

_The girls slowly break apart for air as their minds catch up to the implications of what was possibly going to happen next at the rate they were traveling._

_"San..." Brittany says breathlessly, still trying to get her heart rate back to normal. "I've never done this before... with **anybody**."_

_"Oh, okay..." Santana simply says, not really sure how to respond._

_"I got close once, but it just didn't feel right..." Brittany states._

_"Why do you think that is?" Santana inquires._

_"I guess because I wasn't in love with them..." Brittany responds._

_"We don't have to do this Britt," Santana says sincerely. "Truth is... I've never done this either."_

_"Why not?" Brittany asks, surprised by the revelation._

_"Because..." Santana trails off, "I was waiting for you."_

_Brittany can hear the sincerity in Santana's voice. In the 2 or so years that she's known the Latina, she's never seen her be so open and vulnerable. A part of her felt special because she knew that this side of Santana was reserved only for her._

_"Honestly, I feel like I was waiting for you too..." Brittany responds bashfully. "Since that day you ran into me, I haven't been able to stop thinking about you," she continues. "I want you to be my first, San..."_

_"You were always meant to be my first, Britt..." the Latina responds, crashing their lips together again._

_As things begin to heat up again, Santana gently tugs on the bottom of Brittany's hoodie, silently asking for permission to lift it up. Brittany nods her head and sits up on her knees while Santana does the same. After Santana slowly removes the offending article of clothing, along with her shirt, she takes a moment to admire Brittany's wonderful body._

_"What?" Brittany says while bringing her arm up, suddenly feeling a little self-conscious._

_"Sorry... I didn't mean to stare," Santana states, "you're just so incredibly beautiful... inside and out."_

_Brittany immediately blushes at the compliment._

_"I didn't mean to embarrass you or make you feel uncomfortable..." Santana says._

_"No, it's not that..." Brittany replies, cutting Santana off. "It's just... no one's ever called me that before."_

_"What... beautiful?" Santana questions. Brittany nods her head. "Seriously? How is that even possible?" Santana asks rhetorically._

_Brittany shrugs her shoulders as she continues to look down._

_"Well then... I guess you need to start getting used to it," Santana continues, "cuz every day that you allow me to be yours, I'm gonna tell you just how amazing and beautiful you are."_

_"You're the amazing and incredibly beautiful one..." Brittany retorts._

_"I guess I'm alright..." Santana says humbly. "Honestly Britt, I'm only amazing because of you."_

_Brittany smiles shyly, finally accepting her girlfriend's praise._

_"Can I?" Brittany says pointing at Santana's shirt. The Latina absently nods her head as the blonde removes it. "Wow..." Brittany says breathlessly._

_Brittany and Santana's lips re-connect as their bodies get impossibly closer to each other. As their remaining clothing gets clumsily removed, which may have resulted in an accidental head bunt or 2, the girls' nerves slowly dissipate as they prepare for this special moment._

_"I love you **so **much..." Santana whispers as she lies on top of Brittany._

_"I know... now show me," Brittany states simply._

_As Santana's hand travels further down her girlfriend's body, Brittany gasps at the first sign of contact. As the Latina works wonders with her hand, she captures Brittany's lips again, muffling the blonde's moans of satisfaction._

_Although both girls began the day not knowing the specific mechanics needed to express their deepest desires for each other, by the end of the night, they managed just fine. By the end of the night, Brittany and Santana were able to fully give themselves to one another and share their most intimate moment together, losing their virginities to each other._

* * *

Santana suddenly awakes from her sleep at the sound of her alarm blaring. As she looks around the room, she realizes that it's now morning and the music from her iPod is still softly playing in the background.

As she reflects on her conversation with Quinn and some of the meaningful memories she shared with Brittany, she can't help but be drawn to the lyrics bouncing off the walls of her apartment.

_**I stare at my reflection in the mirror  
Why am I doing this to myself?  
Losing my mind on a tiny error  
I nearly left the real me on the shelf**_

Santana thinks back to that dreadful day that her life drastically changed. She thinks back to Mrs. Pierce's words at the hospital when she was told to stay away from Brittany. She thinks about how much she blamed herself for the accident and how that led her to so easily concede and not fight for the woman she loves.

_**Don't lose who you are in the blur of the stars  
Seeing is deceiving, dreaming is believing  
It's okay not to be okay**_

Santana thinks about how she hasn't been the same since that unfortunate day. She thinks about how broken she was, but luckily had a strong support group to bring her back to life. She thinks about how cooking allowed her to feel something again once she lost her ultimate passion.

_**Sometimes it's hard to follow your heart  
Tears don't mean you're losing, everybody's bruising  
Just be true to who you are**_

Santana then thinks about that moment exactly one month ago when Brittany came back into her life. She thinks about how her heart stopped for a split second as her eyes met the crystal blue ones she had longed to stare into over the past 6 years. She thinks about how Brittany made all of this effort to find her and get to know her again.

Santana thinks about what she's going to do to get her girl back.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back in Lima…_

Since Brittany had returned home from New York, she hadn't been in contact with Santana. It's not that she didn't want to talk to the Latina, – trust me, she _really_ wanted to talk to her – it's just that she didn't know exactly what to say or how to begin a conversation now, laced with all of the information she had acquired from Quinn and Will. Plus, usually anytime the two of them had talked before, Brittany was always the one who initiated the conversation. Even with everything Brittany had learned about Santana over the past month, she was still left with unanswered questions that only the Latina could answer, especially in terms of their relationship. Although she understood why Santana probably didn't tell her about their courtship, she still would've preferred hearing about all of those special memories from the girl she once called her own.

As Brittany continued to process all of the information she had been given, she couldn't help but think of where her life would be now if she hadn't of lost that time with Santana. She thinks about how she would've said yes to Santana's proposal and pictured them getting married in Central Park with Lindsay as her maid of honor and Quinn as Santana's. She thinks about how long they would've waited to start a family and whether or not they would want to raise their kids in the city or the suburbs. Even with her memory loss, Brittany was positive that she would've fallen in love with Santana again, had she been given the opportunity to get to know her again instead of being shunned by her parents.

That was another reason why Brittany had been hesitant to speak to Santana after returning home because she partly blamed herself for this whole situation since she couldn't remember. Of course, she knew that her lack of memory wasn't her fault, but a part of her still felt guilty about it because she felt like her brain had betrayed her. On the other hand, she blamed her parents for taking away any opportunity she had to remember her friends and the love of her life. Before Brittany could begin to sort through her own feelings or think about any chance of a possible future with Santana, she had some unfinished business to take care of.

With that in mind, Brittany fiddles with the silver ring that has made a permanent home in her pocket since she found it in the box of stuff that Quinn had given her. After she reads the inscription one last time, Brittany puts the ring back in her pocket and knocks on the door in front of her. Shortly after, Lindsay answers and lets her big sister in. Normally, Brittany would just let herself into the place she once called home, but since that night after the argument with her parents, she's felt like a stranger in her childhood home.

* * *

When Brittany first got back, she had spoken to Lindsay about everything she had learned. Although Lindsay was shocked to hear some of the particular details, she wasn't surprised to hear that her suspicion of Brittany and Santana's relationship being something more was dead on. Brittany wasn't upset that her sister didn't fill her in on her hunch. If anything, Brittany was more surprised at herself for ignoring her gut and coming to that conclusion beforehand.

After the two of them had talked, she decided that it was time to confront her parents about all of this. Instead of telling her parents ahead of time about when she wanted to have a chat with them, she texted Lindsay a couple of hours ago to ask her if their folks were indeed home. Brittany didn't want to give them any type of warning or clue that she was coming to confront them, that way they wouldn't have time to have a well-planned speech prepared. Instead, she opted for a ninja style approach.

As Brittany's parents are carrying on a light conversation while cleaning up the kitchen, they are unaware of the presence of their eldest daughter.

"Hello…" Brittany says in a monotone voice, interrupting her parents. Although she was still upset with her parents, she didn't want to be rude and just demand a conversation.

"Brittany!" Mrs. Pierce exclaims, walking towards Brittany.

The Pierces hadn't seen nor heard from their daughter in almost 2 weeks so Mrs. Pierce was relieved and excited to see her now standing in their kitchen. As soon as she takes a few steps towards Brittany, she quickly refrains after seeing the look on her daughter's face, basically telling her to keep her distance because she was not in a hugging mood.

"I need to talk to you guys," Brittany says, taking a seat at the table. Her parents follow suit and sit across from her. "First off, I need to apologize for my behavior during our last conversation…"

"Sweetheart, you don't have to apologize… we understand that you were upset," Mrs. Pierce states, cutting off Brittany.

"I wasn't quite finished yet…" Brittany says, trying her best to keep her anger at bay. "I need to apologize for raising my voice at you and cursing because that's not who I am. It was disrespectful of me."

Brittany's parents both nod their heads in understanding as a small smile presents its self on their faces.

"With that being said, I _will not_ apologize for anything that I'm about to say to you now," Brittany quickly interjects, knocking the smiles right off of her parents' faces. "And just for the record, _you_ have _no clue_ about how I feel or felt that night so please don't patronize me and say that you _understand_ that I was upset when you don't have the slightest idea."

Feeling like a dog with its tail tucked in between its legs, the Pierces sit there in silence, not daring to interrupt their oldest daughter again.

"I learned a lot of things this past weekend, things about me and my former life before the accident…" Brittany begins. "I took a trip to New York and learned all of the gruesome details about the accident. Not only that, I learned about my _true_ relationship with Santana, whom you obviously wanted to keep me away from…"

Mrs. Pierce opens her mouth to interject, but Brittany quickly raises her hand to stop her.

"Save it… whatever explanation that's on the tip of your tongue, I don't need to hear it," Brittany states calmly. "I don't _want_ to hear it cuz all it's gonna be is an excuse… an excuse as to why you _purposely _kept me away from my friends and the love of my life."

Mrs. Pierce closes her mouth as Mr. Pierce just sits there, looking down at the table.

"I expect to be let down by people who I don't really know or people who don't care about me, but I never thought that would be you… I never thought I could ever be disappointed in you, but here we are," Brittany continues. "Like I said before, I can almost understand you're reasoning for bringing me back here, but lying to me for all these years… I can't comprehend. And then lying to my face when confronted about it… I _don't_ accept."

As the Pierces reflect on their misguided behavior, Brittany retrieves the ring from her pocket and places it on the table. Her parents both stare at the ring intently, not sure of its purpose.

"Come to find out, Santana was gonna propose to me that night…" Brittany states while quickly wiping away a stray tear that was about to fall.

Mr. and Mrs. Pierce's eyes both go wide at Brittany's admission.

"That accident took something away from me that I may never get back," Brittany starts again, "but you guys robbed me of the amazing future I could've had with Santana."

Brittany picks up the ring off of the table and places it back in her pocket. As she stands up from the table, she reaches into her other pocket and grabs her keys. She then removes one of the keys from the ring and places in on the table. As she turns around to make her way towards the front door, her father's voice halts her movements.

"Brittany, wait…" Mr. Pierce says.

"I'll always be thankful for you guys loving and supporting me throughout the years. However, I can't forgive you for what you did," Brittany responds. "Maybe one day I'll be able to get pass this, but honestly… I can't even look at you two right now without getting angry or feeling hurt. I don't wanna be angry at you guys cuz you're my parents and I love you…" she continues, her voice starting to break, "but what you did was wrong. And now… you feel like complete strangers to me."

Before her parents have a chance to comment back, Brittany continues her path towards the front door, exiting her childhood home, leaving her key behind. Her parents remain in their seats, silently sobbing at the events that just took place. After a few minutes go by and they realize that Brittany's not coming back, Mr. Pierce breaks the ice.

"We really fucked up…" Mr. Pierce says to his wife. "Maybe if I had the balls 6 years ago, none of this would've happened…"

"Are you trying to say that this is my fault?" Mrs. Pierce asks her husband incredulously.

"No… it's both of our faults," he replies. "At the time, I agreed with you because you're my wife and I support you in everything. But, if _we_ would've taken the time and actually thought about the possible ramifications of our actions years later, then maybe our daughter wouldn't hate us right now."

"Well Jack, what the hell are we supposed to do now?" Mrs. Pierce says rhetorically. "You always sit back and make me handle_ every_ _single thing_, but as soon as our daughter is upset with us, you finally find the gift of speech to blame _me_ for what happened!"

"I said _we_, didn't I?!" Mr. Pierce responds. "We're both at fault… you for being too controlling and me for being a push-over. I love you to death Susan, but you know that I'm right."

Mrs. Pierce gets up from the table and begins to pace back and forth throughout the kitchen. She can feel her anger rising, but it's not towards her husband. She's angry at herself for making that knee-jerk reaction 6 years ago. She's angry at herself for putting Brittany in this situation to where now she doesn't trust her parents.

Mr. Pierce stands up and makes his way towards his wife. He embraces her tightly as hot tears begin to flow out of her eyes.

"I can't be silent anymore… our daughter is hurting," Mr. Pierce says softly. "We nearly lost her once… I refuse to lose her again."

"This is all my fault!" Mrs. Pierce sobs out into her husband's shoulder.

"This is _our_ fault…" Mr. Pierce corrects her. "Now… what are we gonna do to fix it?"

"I don't know, Jack… I just don't know!"

* * *

_A few days later…_

As Santana just survived another crazy lunch rush, she was happy that Blaine would be arriving at any moment so that she could finally take a break. While she is cleaning up her work station, her movements cease when she hears the voice of an intruder behind her.

"Hello, Santana…" the woman says hesitantly.

As Santana turns around, a mix of emotions course through her body as she faces the woman that ruined her life.

"What do you want, Mrs. Pierce?" Santana states, venom oozing off of her words.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys, here's the next installment. I hope you all enjoy it. By the way, if anyone's interested in what the unicorn/anchor bracelet looks like from last chapter, go to Etsy dot com and search "unicorn anchor bracelet". It should be the very first listing, although the color on the post is green and pink instead of green and yellow. Also, for those of you that have been following my other story You and Me… I'm sorry that it's been a while since I've updated. New ideas for this story kept popping up in my head and I needed to get them out ASAP, which inadvertently led me to neglecting my other story. My goal is to have an update for You and Me either by the end of this week or early next week. Thanks again for reading!

-K

**Songs used:**

_**Don't You Remember**_ by **Adele **_(shout out to Guest for inspiring the scene this song is used in. I would PM you, but you don't have an account… hint hint ;)_

_**Who You Are**_ by **Jessie J**

**Disclaimer:** I own **NOTHING**!


	8. Coming Home

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 8: Coming Home**

The day had been pretty uneventful, aside from lunch being crazy busy due to the influx of patrons celebrating Mother's Day. Although it's always a good sign when your restaurant is packed to the max, I was more excited about my mom coming to visit and spending some much needed quality time with her. We talked just about every day, whether it was through text messages or phone calls. However, it had been much too long since I had seen the woman I owe my life to. For the most part, she was all caught up on the whole "Brittany coming back into my life" thing. The only thing she wasn't clear on was what I intended to do about it, mostly because I was still trying to figure that out for myself.

As I waited for Blaine to clock in and relieve me for a little while, all of my coherent thoughts were lost as I heard the voice of the devil behind me.

"Hello, Santana..." she says hesitantly.

I feel my face slightly twitch as her voice travels through my ears. I don't want to believe that it's _her_. Maybe if I stand here long enough, she'll eventually disappear and my pleasant mood will come back. However, the longer I stand here and try to ignore her, the more I feel my blood starting to boil.

As I slowly turn around to face the intruder, I feel myself getting angrier as my suspicions are confirmed and I stare at _the_ last person on earth I want to see. Here in front of me stands the woman who took away everything from me. Here stands the woman who stole my hopes and dreams without a second thought.

"What do you want, Mrs. Pierce?" I viciously reply, crossing my arms over my chest.

You could practically feel the venom oozing off my words. In fact, from an outsider's point of view, what I said probably sounded more like _"what the fuck are you doing here, bitch?!"_ Although that's pretty much what I was going for, I still wanted to maintain my class because I'm a lady.

"Please... call me Susan," she dumbly states.

"And why would I do that?" I respond, coldly. "Calling you by your first name would imply that we're friends... you made it very clear that we're not."

"I deserve that..." Mrs. Pierce states, holding her hands up defensively.

"With all due respect, _Mrs. Pierce_... I don't give a shit about what _you_ think _you_ deserve," I spit back in response. "So I'll ask again... what do _you_ want?"

"I know you probably hate me and I have no right to come here to ask you this…" Mrs. Pierce weakly states, "but I _need_ to talk to you and explain myself."

"You have _no_ idea how I feel, so don't pretend like you suddenly care about me…" I say through gritted teeth, "… you certainly didn't when you left me alone and heartbroken in the middle of that hospital. I don't need to hear any of the excuses you planned to offer."

I turn my back to her and continue whatever I was doing before she interrupted me. I had hoped that she would've taken the hint that the conversation was over and left, but unfortunately, she did not.

"Santana… please," she pleads. I almost feel bad for how pathetic she sounds. "Brittany won't talk to me. I know it's my fault and I'm trying to do everything I can to make it right."

Hearing Brittany's name releases some of the anger that had been building up since Mrs. Pierce stepped foot inside my restaurant. However, hearing her say that she was trying to _"make it right" _really struck a nerve.

"Make it right…" I state hesitantly as I turn around to face her again. "Is that the real reason you came here, so that your daughter would speak to you again?" I ask rhetorically as I take a step towards her. "If you came here, looking for forgiveness… you came to the wrong place."

"I wasn't expecting your forgiveness… I just hoped that you would hear me out," Mrs. Pierce states. "I hurt Brittany and I can't take it back… I hate myself for that," she continues as her eyes begin to water. "I nearly lost her before to that horrific accident… I'm afraid I might've actually lost her for good this time."

As much as I wanted to pretend that I didn't care about the pain this woman is in, I can't. Don't get me wrong… I care nothing about her! However, I _do_ care deeply about Brittany and how this rift in their relationship may be affecting her. Despite my better judgment, I toy with the idea of letting her release whatever it is she has on her mind. After going so many years with so many unanswered questions roaming around inside my head, maybe this will help bring me the closure I never received back then.

As I ponder over my options, I take a deep breath to help calm myself down.

"You've got 5 minutes… before I kick you out of my restaurant," I state slowly.

She nods her head in understanding. I lean back against the counter to give her my somewhat undivided attention.

"I always knew that Brittany was a free-spirit, so to speak…" Mrs. Pierce begins. "She never cared about what race or gender a person was… she just liked people based on who they were. After she met you, I knew it was only a matter of time before something happened between the 2 of you," she continues. "I saw the way you guys looked at each other… it's the same way I look at her father. That's why when you finally became a couple, initially… I was fine with it."

I scrunch up my face in confusion. Once Brittany and I became girlfriends, I never got the impression that Mrs. Pierce was cool with us dating. If anything, I felt like she would slap a smile on in my presence, but then talk shit about me behind my back. I say this because she treated me much differently when Britt and I were just friends. We were so close that I considered her to be like a second mother to me.

"It was never anything personal against you, Santana… you made my daughter very happy and treated her with respect," Mrs. Piece continues. "However… living in a small, closed-minded and very conservative community affected my better judgment. While you and Brittany were writing your love story in New York, I was in Lima, defending my daughter from the ugly ignorance of the locals."

As I let Mrs. Pierce's words sink in, I'm surprised to learn this new information. The fact that there are so many uneducated and homophobic people in Ohio wasn't what surprised me though… it was the fact that she had never mentioned anything about it before.

"Why didn't you ever say anything?" I inquired.

"I didn't want you guys to worry…" she replied. "I'm the parent… it's my job to protect you guys."

I am beyond confused at this point. I feel like my brain has been literally fucked, scrambled, and placed on a platter to serve as a full-course meal.

"When Brittany woke up, I was more than relieved to have my daughter back," Mrs. Pierce starts again. "But… when she couldn't remember you, all of those nasty and hateful comments from our neighbors started seeping through my head again. Brittany was already in so much pain from her injuries… the last thing we needed was for her to be hounded and judged by idiotic people who don't even know her," she continues. "At that moment, I wasn't thinking about how this would affect you or Quinn or her life in New York… I was thinking about my daughter."

Suddenly, I'm feeling a mix of emotions. On one hand, there's this evil woman in front of me that single-handedly destroyed everything that was good in my life. On the other hand, there's this mother who was put in a bad situation and made the choices she felt would best protect her daughter. I'm not excusing her behavior, but at least now I have a better understanding of it.

"But you _were_ thinking… at least a little bit," I state slowly. "You had the wherewithal to withdraw Brittany from school and pack up her things from our apartment while I was by her bedside, holding her hand and praying that she would wake up."

"Santana… it's not that simple," Mrs. Pierce states.

"Sure it is…" I respond back. "You knew that I blamed myself for the accident… I was so broken and vulnerable and you used that against me," I state, my voice breaking. "For once, could you just be straight up with me and admit that you took advantage of the situation…"

There's a brief pause as Mrs. Pierce appears to be mulling over her options.

"You're right… although all of that stuff I said before is true, I did take advantage of you and that entire situation," she finally admits. "I looked at Brittany's memory loss as a chance to start anew. I did it for my own selfish reasons because I wanted her to have as close to a _"normal life"_ as possible. I didn't realize that I ended up doing more harm than good. For that, I am sorry."

"And what about now, when she asked you about me a month ago?" I ponder.

"I screwed up…" Mrs. Pierce begins. "I had been lying about you for so long that I didn't know how to stop. When Brittany first asked me about you, I was shocked. My initial reaction was to keep going along with the lie…"

"Well, at least now you're being honest," I reply.

"Do you remember the last thing I said to you at the hospital?" Mrs. Pierce asks.

_Then she'll come back to you… _

"Of course… " I respond while Mrs. Pierce's words from that day ring throughout my head. "How could I forget?"

"Brittany's been different this past month…" Mrs. Pierce starts out. "Since she found you again, she's been more like her old self… I've missed that."

Although I've only gotten to know the _new_ Brittany over the past month, I can certainly see what Mrs. Pierce was referring to. The Brittany I knew before was so full of life and had an extra pep in her step about everything. The new Brittany still had a beautiful smile and a somewhat positive glow about her, but I could definitely tell that there was something missing behind those blue eyes. Maybe that something was me.

"I know that I can't make up for the time I stole from you, but… I do hope that you won't let my selfish decisions dictate your future with my daughter," Mrs. Pierce states sincerely. "Whatever happens between you and Brittany from here on out… I won't interfere," she concludes.

As Mrs. Pierce turns around and walks out of my kitchen, I am left standing here, completely dumbfounded by the conversation that had just taken place. I must've been standing here for a few minutes because the next thing I know, my thoughts are interrupted by Blaine's arrival.

"Hey Santana… are you okay?" Blaine asks, concerned about my well-being.

"I'm not sure yet…" I respond slowly without blinking. "I think I'm gonna go take that break now."

"Yeah… that sounds like a good idea cuz you're kinda freaking me out right now," he replies. "You kinda look like a zombie… no offense."

"None taken," I state. "Hold down the fort."

I then take off my chef's jacket as I head back to my office to lie down on my couch.

_What just happened?_

* * *

As Mrs. Pierce exits the restaurant, she stops at the sound of her name being called from a distance.

"Susan!" The distant voice repeats, sounding seemingly closer.

As she turns around to identify the person calling her name, she is met with a familiar face.

"Maribel! How are y—" Mrs. Pierce's words stop abruptly as her face meets the swift right hand of Maribel Lopez. As Mrs. Pierce raises her hand to cover the stinging pain accumulating on her cheek, she opens her mouth to say something.

"It would be in your best interest to keep your fucking mouth shut," Mrs. Lopez warns, pointing her finger at the blonde. Mrs. Pierce complies and immediately closes her mouth. "Your daughter wasn't the only one who lost something from that accident… a part Santana died the day you took Brittany away from her."

Mrs. Pierce remains in the same spot, her body shaking as fear courses through her body.

"Because of your actions, I almost lost my daughter. That type of behavior will _not_ be tolerated," the Latina states, taking a step closer to Mrs. Pierce. "If you do _anything_ to hurt my daughter again… I will _end_ you! Are we clear?" Mrs. Lopez says in a freakishly calm voice.

Mrs. Pierce swallows down the large lump that had been camping out in her throat. She then quickly nods her head in understanding.

"Good…" Mrs. Lopez says as she turns to head inside her daughter's restaurant. "Oh Susan, by the way… Happy Mother's Day!"

With that, Maribel Lopez enters the restaurant in search for her daughter, leaving a very stunned Susan Pierce outside to gather herself.

* * *

As I lie here on the couch, a million things are running through my head. I was pleasantly surprised to hear that Mrs. Pierce didn't have a problem with Brittany and I dating, although I'm not sure how much of that I really believe. She did say that it was the hateful comments from the community that led her to the decision she made, but again… that could just be her way of placing blame on others or attempt to blow smoke up my ass. She did finally admit that she based her decision off of her own selfish reasons. I definitely believe that… maybe there's hope for her yet.

As I'm about to further dissect the conversation I just had with Mrs. Pierce, there's a knock at my door.

"Hey babygirl," I hear my mother say.

"Hola mami!" I state excitedly, rushing off of the couch to greet her with a bear hug. "What are you doing here? I wasn't supposed to pick you up for another hour or so."

"I know how busy you've been… plus, I wanted to surprise you," she responds.

"Well, you definitely succeeded there," I say as we both take a seat on the couch. "It's so great to see you! Happy Mother's Day!"

"Thank you hija," she replies back. "By the way… was Susan Pierce just here?"

"Yeah… she came to apologize, I guess," I state. I guess my mom must've seen her leaving as she was coming in. "I don't know… I'm still a little confused by the conversation we had."

"Did she happen to have a handprint in this area?" my mom asks, motioning towards the left side of her face.

"Umm… not that I recall," I reply, feeling even more confused than before.

"Well… she does now," my mom simply states.

As I take a second to process what she just said, it finally hits me.

"Mami, you didn't!" I exclaim.

"I did… and I would do it again! She had it coming," she replies. "When I saw her, it just brought back all of those bad memories of when you were in so much pain because of what she did. I've held my tongue for 6 years, but I just couldn't do it anymore hija. I'm sorry."

"It's okay Mom… I've thought about doing that several times myself," I state while embracing her on the couch.

Honestly, even with the _somewhat_ closure that I got, I would've loved to have seen my mom slap the shit out of Mrs. Pierce. Hell, I would've even been okay with just seeing a picture of her face with the outline of my mom's hand attached to it. The only reason I never did it myself was out of respect for Brittany. I know how much she hates violence. Even though she wouldn't have remembered it anyways, I took the high road and tried to forget about all of this madness.

* * *

After a while, I called it a day at the restaurant and headed back to my apartment with my mother to change. We then went shopping as I filled her in on my previous conversation with Mrs. Pierce. My mom said that she could kind of see where Mrs. Pierce was coming from, but agreed that she handled the situation in the worse way possible. Like Susan, my mom would do anything and everything to protect me from any harm. However, my mom would've never torn me away from the main source of happiness in my life.

"So… what about you and Brittany?" Mom questions me.

"What about us?" I respond. My mom immediately gives me her all-knowing stare. I shrug my shoulders and continue on. "I don't know… I haven't talked to her since she visited Quinn."

"Okay… so what's stopping you?" she asks.

"I don't know what to say…" I begin, "… even if I did, I'm not sure if she would want to hear it."

"Why do you say that?" she inquires further.

"I mean, she pretty much knows everything now, yet I haven't heard anything from her either," I state sadly. "What if all she wanted out of this was to just re-connect with an old friend?"

"You don't honestly believe that, do you hija?"

"I'm really not sure anymore," I respond honestly. "Even if she did want more than a friendship, there are so many other factors to consider."

"Such as…" my mother prompts.

"The fact that I live here and she lives there," I begin, "the history with her mom, why I didn't tell her everything to begin with, etc…"

"Brittany has always been a reasonable person… I'm sure she understands why you didn't just dive in head first about your romantic relationship back then," she states. "Geography can always change and as far as her mother is concerned… I really don't think she'll be an issue anymore."

"But that's just it mami… I still can't forgive her for what she did, but I don't want our relationship to be like this," I try to explain. Apparently I'm not doing a very good job at it since my mom is looking at me weird. "If Britt and I were to ever get back together, I don't want there to be a rift between our families. Especially if we have kids… I don't want to shut their future grandparents out for stupid mistakes they made in the past."

"Wow… I've never heard you talk about wanting kids before," she replies as her eyes start to water up. "You're still in love with her, aren't you?"

I take a deep breath before answering. My mom grabs my hand and squeezes it.

"I never stopped…" I state simply, but sincerely. "Whenever I have ever thought about my future, as far as starting my own family one day… she's the only person I see. She's the only one I want standing beside me."

"Well then… I think you need to tell her that hija," she responds. "I know that you don't wanna feel like you're pushing Brittany one way or the other, but I think she deserves to know how you truly feel. Whatever happens after that, at least you can look back and say that you laid all of your cards out on the table."

"But what if she doesn't feel even remotely the same? What if this is all just too much for her to the point where she doesn't even want to be friends anymore?" I question.

"What if it's not… what if she feels and wants the same things as you?" she retorts. "Brittany just spent the past month trying to find out everything she can about you… with very little help from you, might I add."

"You're starting to sound like Quinn," I mumble out.

"Well, she is a very smart girl," she replies. I playfully roll my eyes at her. "Seriously, what's stopping you hija?"

As my brain tries to quickly scan through the copious amounts of information that I have acquired since Brittany came back into my life, it all leads me back to the same place.

"I'm scared…" I state honestly, tears starting to fall from my eyes. "Losing Brittany the first time broke me. If it happened again… it might physically kill me this time."

"Aww, honey…" my mother says, wrapping her arms around me. "Don't be afraid of going after what you want. No matter what happens, we're all here for you!"

"I know… I know…" I reply.

* * *

After the sobfest, I asked my mom where she wanted to eat on her special day. Naturally, she picked Maribel's and made me cook for her. I tell ya… that woman is spoiled! After my mom devours her Eggplant Parmesan, we fall into a light conversation about her work and this new guy she's been seeing. I thought I was safe, but somehow, the conversation made its way back to me.

"So… is there anything else I can get for you, Your Highness?" I jokingly say to her.

"As a matter of fact, yes… I do have one last request," she responds.

"And what would that be?" I ask inquisitively.

"I want to hear you sing," she simply replies. My eyes immediately go wide.

"W-what?" I stutter out.

"You heard me," my mother states. "It's been far too long since I've heard that beautiful voice of yours.

It's true… back at NYU, I was majoring in Music with the hopes of becoming a professional musician someday. I loved singing… it was my only passion until Brittany came into my life. I sang all of the time, no matter where the location. Our school librarian hated me and actually banned me from it. What kind of bullshit is that? Anyways, after the accident, I just couldn't find the strength to sing anymore. My passion had died after the other was taken away from me. I occasionally hum to myself when I'm alone, but I haven't sung in front of anyone since back then.

"I don't know mami… we usually don't have people sing here on Sundays," I reply lamely.

"Santana Maria Lopez…" my mom states firmly.

"Hey, hey… shh…" I state, trying to shut my mother up. "Why are you middle-naming me?"

"Cuz you're being ridiculous," she simply says in return. "You own this restaurant… I think you can tell the little jazz band up there to take 5."

"Fine… what do you want me to sing?" I succumb to her nagging.

"I want you to sing something that encompasses all of your feelings," she responds. "Stop running away from them and face them head on… that's the only way you're gonna get your girl back."

_I hate it when my mom's right._

I then get up from the table and make my way towards the stage. After the band finishes the piece they were playing, I whisper into the pianist ear and tell him what song I intend to sing. As I sit down on the stool in the middle of the stage, my intake of breaths start to increase as I see every pair of eyes now focused on me.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen… I hope you've all been enjoying yourselves here tonight," I start off. "For those of you who don't know me… I'm Santana, the Head Chef and Owner of this restaurant."

The sound of light applause and praise emits around the room. That's always nice, compared to the alternative of being booed and told to get off the stage.

"Anyways… that lovely lady over there is my mother, whom the restaurant is named after," I state, pointing my mother out to get the attention off of me momentarily. "Since it's Mother's Day, she demanded that I sing something, so here it goes…"

I take one last deep breath before the sound of the piano plays throughout the room.

_**Ain't no sunshine when she's gone**_

My first few notes start off a little shaky, probably from all of the cobwebs stuck in my throat, but soon smooth out.

_**It's not warm when she's away**_

"Hey babe, is that Santana?" Marley says to Jake as she walks up towards the bar. "I didn't know she could sing…"

_**Ain't no sunshine when she's gone  
And she's always gone too long**_

"Yeah… apparently that's what she was going to school for before she dropped out and became a chef," Jake replies. "It's a long story, but she and my bro used to be in a band back in high school, along with Brittany and another one of their friends. Puck said that she hasn't really sung since then."

_**Anytime she goes away…**_

Hearing the mention of Brittany's name, something clicks for Marley. She and Lindsay had become pretty good friends since meeting during her visit a month ago. Lindsay had given her the cliff-notes version of Brittany and Santana's relationship, which Marley had already began to piece together. Now, with this particular song, Marley felt like it was a sign of some sort. She then pulls out her phone and begins recording.

_**Wonder this time where she's gone**_

_**Wonder if she's gone to stay**_

"What are you doing?" Jake whispers.

_**Ain't no sunshine when she's gone  
And this house just ain't no home**_

_**Anytime she goes away**_

"Helping out a friend," Marley responds back.

_**And I know, I know, I know, I know…**_

A silent tear falls down my cheek as the next few words leave my mouth.

_**Hey, I outta leave young thing alone…  
But ain't no sunshine when she's gone**_

After the song reaches completion, I get a standing ovation from the patrons. It felt good to sing again and release these locked up emotions. As I wipe away the stray tears and thank everyone, I scan the crowd to find some of my employees staring at me in awe. I then find my mother who has a wide smile on her face and mascara running everywhere. She looks like a hot mess, but I know she doesn't care. She knew that I needed to have this moment to face my fears and begin traveling the road back to Brittany. I love her for that.

Now, I must quickly make it back to the table and hand her a napkin before she starts scaring my guests.

* * *

_Meanwhile, back in Lima…_

_**Yeah, you'd bleed just to know you're alive**_

Brittany belts out while lying down in the middle of her living room floor. She's been in this same position for a while now, just cycling through her playlist with her ear buds shoved deep into her ear canals.

_**And I don't want the world to see me  
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand**_

"Brittany!" Lindsay yells out, trying to get her sister's attention. No dice.

_**When everything's made to be broken  
I just want you to know who I am**_

"Brittany!" Lindsay tries again, this time shaking the singing blonde.

"Holy shit, Linds!" Brittany finally responds, ripping out her ear buds and clutching her chest. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"

"Well… if you would've answered your phone or the door that I've been banging on for the past 5 minutes, we wouldn't be in this little predicament now, would we?" Lindsay states rhetorically as she grabs her sister's iPod and starts scrolling through the current playlist. "_Someone Like You_, _Save Tonight_, _Halo, Tonight, I Wanna Cry_… what is this Britt, the _"Depression for Dummies 2013"_ Mix?"

"Give me that," Brittany responds, snatching her iPod away from her baby sister. "What are you even doing here… don't you have school in the morning?" Brittany questions, ignoring Lindsay's previous inquiry. "Do Mom and Dad know you're here?"

"Mom and Dad aren't home… they took a mini-vacation or something for Mother's Day," the younger blonde replies. "And yes… I do have school in the morning, but I thought this was a little more important," she says, handing her phone over to Brittany.

"What's this?" Brittany asks, feeling a little confused.

"Marley sent it to me… I think you should watch it," Lindsay simply states.

As Brittany nods her head and presses play, her ears are immediately filled by the beautiful, sultry voice of Santana.

"Oh my God… she's amazing," Brittany breathes out, still in shock from the Heavenly sounds flowing through her ears.

After the video finishes, Brittany is left in total awe and amazement.

"She's singing again…" Brittany slowly states.

"Not only that, but did you hear _what_ she was singing? Lindsay infers. "I'm no rocket scientist, but I'm pretty sure that song was about you."

"When I hadn't heard anything from her after a week had passed, I figured that she just wanted to be friends or just didn't want to talk to me anymore," Brittany says sadly.

"I'm sure you both have a lot of stuff going through your brain right now that needs to be sorted out," Lindsay starts off, "but I think this is a step in the right direction."

"Yeah, but what does this all mean? Where do we go from here?" Brittany questions.

"I think it means that she's still in love with you…" Lindsay reasons, placing a comforting hand on Brittany's shoulder. "What you do with that information from here is up to you Britt."

"But that's just it… I don't know _what_ to do," she replies.

"Well, for starters… you can get off your ass, turn off that God awful _Debbie Downer_ mix, and go fight for your girl!" Lindsay states sternly, pulling Brittany to her feet.

"You used to be so sweet… what happened to my baby sister?" Brittany says, pinching Lindsay cheeks.

"Get off me," Lindsay states as she playfully pushes her older sister away from her. Both girls giggle. "So, what's the game plan?"

"I guess I'm making another trip back to LA…" Brittany replies.

"Now that's what I'm talkin' bout!" Lindsay exclaims.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! Here's the next installment. Sorry it took a little longer than usual to update… I had to update **You and Me** for my loyal fans of that story (which all of you should check out as well, if you haven't already ). Anyways, it might take me a little longer to update the next chapter cuz I'm currently in the process of moving, being promoted at work, and trying to plan a wedding. **Kill me now!** I'll try my best to update as soon as I can. Thanks again for all of the love! Btw, Happy Mother's Day!

Stay classy,

-K (or **justkris21** for my special guest that wanted to know my Twitter handle)

**Songs used:**

_**Ain't No Sunshine **_by **Bill Withers**

_**Iris**_ by **Goo Goo Dolls**

_**Someone Like You**_ by **Adele** _(honorable mention)_

_**Save Tonight**_ by **Eagle Eye Cherry** _(honorable mention)_

_**Halo**_ by **Beyoncé **_(honorable mention)_

_**Tonight, I Wanna Cry**__ by __**Keith Urban **__(honorable mention)_

**Disclaimer:** I own **NOTHING**!


	9. Find My Way Back

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 9: Find My Way Back**

Once the lights dim all around me, I briefly close my eyes before opening them back up and locking onto hers. She's still just as beautiful as ever. I wonder how I've managed to go on this long without seeing her face every single day.

_**Something always brings me back to you**_

As I stare deep into Brittany's electrifying blue orbs, I can't help but feel like it's only me and her in the room.

_**It never takes too long**_

As I sing to Brittany with all of the emotion and conviction inside of me, I try and soak up every single moment I get to share with her because they all seem fleeting as of late.

_**No matter what I say or do**_

_**I still feel you here 'til the moment I'm gone**_

I reach out to grab Brittany's hand, but I can't. She's so close to me, yet I feel like she's out of reach somehow.

_**Set me free, leave me be…**_

I step off of the stage and make my way towards Brittany. She hasn't moved from her spot, yet I can't seem to get any closer to her than I already am.

_**I don't wanna fall another moment into your gravity**_

I close my eyes and reach for her again, but I'm still unable to touch her. When I open my eyes again, she seems further away than I remember.

_**Here I am and I stand**_

_**So tall, just the way I'm supposed to be**_

With every blink of my eyes, Brittany gets further and further away from me. I don't understand… is she trying to get away from me?

"Brittany, wait…" I yell out as my hand reaches for her. She raises her arm out to me, but I still can't grasp it.

_**But you're on to me **_

_**And all over me…**_

As I continue to stare at Brittany, completely confused, my vision of her gets distorted with the onset of tears streaming down my face.

"Please… don't leave me again…" I desperately plea as the sight of her slowly fades away. "Please…"

* * *

_**Free your mind **_

_**And the rest will follow…**_

My body violently jolts forward, leaving my head feeling a little woozy and disoriented. As I reach down to find something to hold on to, all I feel is the dampness of my sheets and the sweat dripping off of my body.

_**Be color blind**_

_**Don't be so shallow**_

As I finally gather my bearings and see that I'm in my bed at my apartment, I realize that my phone is going off.

"Hello?" I say, my throat feeling a bit scratchy.

"Geez, San… you sound like shit," Quinn greets me.

"Well, good morning to you to," I reply sarcastically.

"For real though, are you okay?" Quinn says a little more seriously.

"Honestly… not really," I simply state.

"What happened S? Another bad dream…" Quinn inquires.

"Yeah, unfortunately…" I respond.

You see, ever since my mom came to visit, I've been having these really bad dreams… nightmares really. They always start differently, but ultimately end the same. They end with me all alone… _without _Brittany. That's the thing I couldn't understand about it though… I've never been one to put much stock in dreams, but this seemingly re-occurring one not only really sucked ass, but it also felt so real.

In the dream, I'm usually serenading Brittany. However, every time I try to get close enough to just touch her, she disappears or slowly fades away. I just don't get it… I feel like fate had finally brought us back together after all of the hardships we've both had to face over the years, yet my subconscious was steadily keeping us apart.

What made this even worse besides the damp sheets and cold sweats is that it was having a reverse effect on me in terms of contacting Brittany. After I faced my fear of singing again, I thought that would build my confidence enough to face my other fear of seeing Brittany. However, since the nightmares started immediately after that performance and had continued every night since then, my level of fear has increased tenfold.

_Isn't it ironic, don't ya think?_

"Santana, are you even listening to me?" Quinn says, exasperated.

"Sorry, I kinda zoned out," I reply.

"Yeah, I figured as much," she responds. "When are you gonna talk to Brittany? And I swear to God, if you say I don't know… I'm gonna come through this phone and slap the shit outta you!"

"Uh… soon then?" I respond carefully. "What am I supposed to say to her, Q?"

"Oh, I don't know… how bout the truth, you dumbass!" Quinn says harshly.

"If this little _pep_ talk was supposed to make me feel better," I start off, "then I must say… you're doing a really shitty job!"

"I'm sorry S, but I don't know what else to do," Quinn replies more calmly. "I've tried being considerate and understanding, but it's about time someone's lit a fire under your ass!"

"Well, maybe you should dial it back a notch cuz Puck already tried that and was quickly put in his place," I state simply.

I know that Puck meant well, but he really just caught me at a bad time. I _may_ have said some choice words to him, words that he probably didn't understand because they were in Spanish, but nevertheless, I probably owe him an apology. I know that he probably didn't take anything I said to heart cuz that's just the way we talk to each other sometimes… he's my bro and at the end of the day, we love each other and always have each other's backs.

"Santana… I know that you're scared," Quinn tries again, "but letting that fear consume you is only gonna end up making you push Brittany away…"

I take a second to let Quinn's words sink in. I know she's right, but it's so hard for me to just forget about everything and really put myself out there. I never want to be or feel as vulnerable as I did the day I lost Brittany. However, if I don't get over myself and put everything on the line… I may end up losing her for good.

"Brittany cares about you… but she won't wait forever," Quinn finishes.

"I know," I respond weakly, "but… what if she's better off without me?"

"Santana… I hate using this word, but it seems appropriate," Quinn starts off. "You are my best friend and I love you to death, but if you honestly believe that Britt would be better off without you… then you're fucking retarded!"

I lightly chuckle to myself at Quinn's choice of words. Being a lawyer, usually her wording is so elegant and politically correct. However, lately her words have been sailor-like when it comes to me. I think I may have finally corrupted her! _Winning…_

"Okay, fine… I'll stop being a little bitch and man up," I reply. "Geez Fabray… you kiss your mother with that mouth of yours?"

"You're one to talk," she responds back playfully.

"Where do you think I got this potty mouth from?" I counter back.

It's true… any form of bad behavior on my part can be traced back to _the_ Maribel Lopez.

"Yeah… you got me there," Quinn concedes. "Just hurry up and get off of your ass!"

"Fine… later biatch," I casually state.

"Bye skank," Quinn replies before hanging up.

Of course Quinn and I couldn't just be normal and say goodbye to each other like regular people. _Hmm… maybe I need to find better friends?_ Nevermind… that sounds like a lot of extra work on my part. I'm lazy like that.

_Oh well…_

* * *

_Back in Lima…_

As Brittany sits, anxiously drumming her fingers along any surface she can find, she waits for her row to be called so that she can board her flight. So many things are running through her head as she thinks about the past week. Ever since she saw the video of Santana singing, she had become so enamored and in complete awe. She wanted to hear more… she _needed_ to hear more.

Luckily for Brittany though, with Santana's newly found confidence to perform again, she had received a new video from Marley every day after that initial one. Although the Latina had yet to physically contact Brittany again, her song selection spoke volumes to the blonde, unbeknownst to Santana. Even though Brittany had hoped that Santana would've been the first one to reach out after discovering the true nature of their relationship from Quinn, she understood the possible hesitation.

Up until this point, Brittany had been very patient, giving Santana time to figure out whatever it was that she needed to. However, after not hearing ANYTHING from the Latina for almost 2 weeks… Brittany was tired of waiting. And so, here Brittany waits… ready to board the plane that would take her back to Santana.

Once Brittany is allowed onto the plane, she takes her seat and immediately sends a text to Marley to let her know that she is on her way. Tonight, Brittany wouldn't need to wait for one of Marley's daily videos of Santana singing. Tonight… Brittany intended on seeing it firsthand.

After the flight attendants finish performing their pre-flight safety checks, Brittany puts her ear buds in and closes her eyes. She instinctively reaches into her pocket and pulls out the silver band that was meant to be hers 6 years ago. As she twirls it around her finger, she wonders what Santana's reaction will be once they are face-to-face again. At this point, all Brittany can do is hope for the best.

* * *

After Brittany touches down in LA, she is greeted by Puck, who immediately takes her to Maribel's.

"Are you nervous about tonight?" the mohawk-haired boy asks.

"A little… I just don't want her to be upset or feel like I'm ambushing her," Brittany responds.

"I'm sure it will be okay," Puck replies. "More than anything, I think she's just scared of losing you again… that's why she's been lashing out at me and probably why she hasn't contacted you."

"But why can't she just tell me that instead of keeping me in the dark and making me wonder where we stand?" Brittany inquires.

"Santana can be very stubborn," Puck states simply. "Honestly, I'm glad that you've taken the reins on this."

"What do you mean?" Brittany asks.

"Nothing really… it's just that back then, Santana was usually the one that took the initiative and was brave enough to finally admit her feelings for you," Puck starts off. "But now, it's like the complete opposite… it's kinda refreshing to see this vulnerable side to her. You're the only person that has that type of effect on her."

"Honestly… I feel the same way about her," Brittany responds. "Even with the memory loss, I've never felt like this before or wanted to know someone _so_ badly," she continues. "Santana is like a drug that I don't mind getting hooked on."

Puck looks over and smiles at Brittany.

"It's good to have you back, Brittany…" he says sincerely. Brittany smiles back in return.

* * *

Once Brittany arrives at the restaurant, Marley sets her up in a secluded table towards the back where she would still have a good view of Santana, but also be less likely to be seen by her while performing. After she takes her seat, Marley heads to the stage to give Santana her introduction.

"Ladies and gentlemen, the next performer to take the stage is our very own Head Chef and Owner, Santana Lopez!" Marley announces.

As the patrons quietly applaud and give their undivided attention, Santana takes the stage at approximately 8 o'clock, like clockwork.

"Thank you guys… I hope you've all been enjoying your meals," Santana says as everyone around her nods their heads in appreciation. "Anyways, I won't bore you to death with my talking. This song is dedicated to someone very special in my life…"

And with those last words, the soft keys of the piano begin to play in the background and echo throughout the room.

_**All along, it was a fever**_

_**A cold sweat, hot-headed believer**_

Brittany audibly gasps at her recognition of the song. Luckily for her though, Santana didn't notice, due to the dim lighting of the room.

_**I threw my hands in the air and said, "Show me something…"**_

As Santana closes her eyes, Brittany can't help but stare at her, in all of her glory. Her voice simply amazes Brittany and captures her like no one has ever before.

_**She said, "If you dare, come a little closer…"**_

As Santana opens her eyes again, she scans the room to gauge her audience's reception of the song.

_**Round and around and around and around we go…  
Oh… now, tell me now, tell me now, tell me now you know**_

Brittany is at a loss for words as she hangs on every syllable that comes out of the Latina's beautiful mouth.

_Her voice is even more mesmerizing in person, _Brittany thinks to herself.

_**Not really sure how to feel about it  
Something in the way you move  
Makes me feel like I can't live without you  
It takes me all the way**_

_**I want you to stay…**_

As Brittany listens intently to the lyrics, she can't help but think that Santana is speaking to her directly.

_Does she know about the videos Marley's been sending me,_ the blonde wonders.

_**Ooh… the reason I hold on**_

As these particular lyrics leave Santana's mouth, she closes her eyes again and pictures Brittany's face.

_**Ooh… cause I need this hole gone**_

Santana closes her eyes even tighter, reeling from the emptiness she's felt since Brittany's been missing from her life.

_**Funny you're the broken one**_

_**But I'm the only one who needed saving**_

A silent tear falls from Brittany's eye as she watches Santana's face scrunch up from all of the pain she's had to endure. It takes all of the blonde's energy to remain seated instead of rushing up on stage and taking Santana into her arms.

_**Cause when you never see the light**_

_**It's hard to know which one of us is caving**_

As the song comes to the end, Santana receives a standing ovation from the crowd. As she quickly wipes away any traces of wetness from her face while giving a silent '_thanks'_ to her patrons, she quickly exits the stage and heads back towards the kitchen.

"Wow…" Brittany says breathlessly.

"Amazing, right?" Marley says, approaching Brittany's table.

"Words can't even describe…" Brittany trails off wiping the tears away from her face that had formed during Santana's performance. "I don't know if I can follow that…"

"You'll be fine… just give it a few minutes to gather yourself," Marley states. "Also, it will give Santana some time to re-group before I bring her out here."

"Okay," Brittany replies.

As Marley walks away, Brittany replays in her head what she had been rehearsing for days. After building up enough courage and taking a few deep breaths, she's finally ready to step out of her comfort zone to fight for what she wants… _Santana._

* * *

Once I make it back to my safety net of the kitchen, I take a few deep, calming breaths to gather myself. With all of the anxiety I've been having lately as a result of all of the bad dreams, I felt like that song expressed exactly what I wanted and feared the most.

Back then, sometimes the best and only way I could express myself was through music. Maybe that's the key to finally telling Brittany how much I still love her and want to be with her. To be honest though, it would be much easier if Brittany had just been here to hear me sing that song that was obviously about her. Ya know, for a minute there, I thought I actually saw her in the crowd towards the back. My eyes were so blurry from the tears that my mind was playing tricks on me, I guess.

"Santana… that was amazing!" Marley exclaims as she enters the kitchen.

"Thanks Marley," I reply back with a smile.

"The crowd was going crazy out there! Why have you been hiding that beautiful voice from us?" Marley questions.

"It's a long story… I'm just glad that I'm finally getting it back though," I respond.

I'm sure that Marley probably could've pieced together the puzzle by my statements, seeing that she is dating Jake, whom is related to Puck. It's not that I don't trust Marley or consider her a friend… it's just the history between me and Brittany is long and complicated. Plus, no matter how much I like Marley, I am still her boss and this is a working environment.

"Anyways, I think you should come back out there… the people wanna hear more," Marley states.

"I really should get back to work," I reply. "Plus, I don't have another song prepared for tonight."

"That's okay, I think they just want you to come back out there so they can praise you some more," Marley says confidently.

I quirk my eyebrow up, feeling like my cute little hostess is up to something. After I can't get a read on Marley's facial expressions, I reluctantly follow her out to the dining area. As I am led to a table that is set dead center in front of the stage, Marley tells me to wait here as she hops back on stage.

"Alrighty guys… wasn't Santana amazing?!" Marley states.

The patrons begin to applaud again. I shyly duck my head as I feel all of these eyes on me.

"Although that might be a hard act to follow, we do have a special guest up next," she begins. "All the way from Lima, OH… everyone please put your hands together for Brittany Pierce!"

My eyes immediately go wide as I hear Brittany's name being announced. As I quickly look back and forth around the dining room, my eyes finally land on Brittany as she's walking onto the stage.

"Good evening everyone," Brittany starts off. "Compared to Santana, my voice probably sucks…" she trails off as her eyes finally lock with mine, "… but I think the message is what's the most important part."

As Brittany gives a nod to the pianist, a soft melody begins to travel across the room and into my ears.

_**All of these lines across my face**_

_**Tell you the story of who I am**_

_**So many stories of where I've been**_

_**And how I got to where I am**_

Brittany's first couple of notes start off a little shaky, but it's still just as beautiful as ever. Her voice had never been as strong as her dancing ability, but I love it just the same. It's so angelic and something I will never get tired of.

_**But these stories don't mean anything**_

_**When you've got no one to tell them to**_

_**It's true... I was made for you**_

As Brittany continues to sing, she never breaks eye contact with me. I'm still shocked by the fact that she's really here right now, only feet away from me. I'm almost afraid to blink because what if I do and this ends up being just another horrible dream?

_**I climbed across the mountain tops  
Swam all across the ocean blue  
I crossed all the lines and I broke all the rules  
But baby, I broke them all for you**_

I feel the tears starting to accumulate in my eyes, but I don't care. Every word that is coming out of Brittany's beautiful mouth is exactly what I've needed to hear. Her words tell me that I haven't been the only one feeling like this.

_**Because even when I was flat broke  
You made me feel like a million bucks  
You do and I was made for you**_

Even after being separated for 6 years, somehow… Brittany found her way back to me. As her words pierce through my ears and straight to my heart, I start to think; maybe, just maybe… she's in love with me too.

_**It's true... I was made for you**_

* * *

As Brittany finishes the song, she receives massive praise from the patrons of my restaurant. As I look at her tear-filled eyes, I get a bit overwhelmed and start feeling like my oxygen supply is cutting off. I feel like I did that very first day back in high school when I first ran into Brittany in the hallways of McKinley. I feel like I did just over a month ago when I saw her again for the first time in several years. I feel the same way that I always have whenever it comes to a new beginning with Brittany… completely breathless.

Once I stand up from the table, I quickly make my way back towards the kitchen and outside to the alley that I had taken refuge in many times before. As I intake a large amount of air from the cool night's breeze, I hear the back kitchen door open. As I slowly turn around, I come face-to-face with the woman who had stolen my heart from the very first time her ocean blue eyes locked onto mine.

"That song was about you, ya know?" Brittany states simply, fidgeting with her fingers.

"Yeah… I know," I lamely reply, not knowing what else to say at this moment.

"I know the reasons why I haven't reached out to you since my visit with Quinn…" she begins. "But why haven't you? I figured you would've been relieved once I found out about _us_… at least you wouldn't have to pretend anymore..."

And there it is… the million dollar question that everyone keeps asking me. But it's different this time because the person I owe the answer to is right in front of me. Feeling so disappointed in myself, I break eye contact with Brittany and stare at the ground below. She deserves better than that from me, but for some reason, I feel like I can't stop letting her down.

"Santana… you can't keep running away from me," Brittany states sternly, gently grabbing one of my hands. The initial contact made me a little light-headed as I now stare at our combined hands. "This…" she continues, motioning between the two of us with her free hand, "will never have a chance of working if you shut me out."

I know that she's right… _of course_ she's right. Why is it so fucking hard for me to just tell her all of the things I've been dying to tell her since she came back into my life? _Oh, that's right… I'm a coward!_ John Wayne once said that "Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway." Maybe it's time for me to put my big girl pants back on and stop being such a pansy.

"I'm scared, Brittany…" I finally admit out loud to her. "I'm still in love with you… actually, I never _stopped_ loving you."

I pause for a brief moment, letting out a long breath that I had been holding for quite some time. I still can't bring myself to look into her eyes again. However, from my peripheral vision, I can see that Brittany's face remains stoic as she nods her head for me to continue. I then find her free hand and link it with mine.

"I have all of these feelings and emotions for you that I don't know what to do with. They've only grown stronger with each day," I continue, squeezing her hands softly to help convey my message. "When I lost you before, my world nearly ended. I was depressed and really felt like my life had no meaning or purpose without you in it," I state, feeling the tears starting to build up again. "When you were taken away from me, I stopped being _me_ completely..."

Brittany briefly untangles our hands to wipe the stray tears that had started to fall down my cheek. I then move my hands to wrap around her lower back before I bury my face into her chest. All of this is beginning to be too much for me to handle. However… instead of running away this time, I pull Brittany closer to me, hoping that she will never let me go.

"I want you back, Britt… I want to be an _us_ again," I sob into her shoulder. "I know you don't remember all of those feelings that you used to have for me, but maybe someday you could… maybe someday you might fall back in love with me…"

Brittany still doesn't say anything. Instead, she tightens her grip on me and softly coos into my ear. It's very soothing and definitely calms me down. With my courage starting to re-appear, I slightly pull my head away from her body so that I can look into her eyes.

"I _need_ you, Brittany… without you, my life doesn't make sense," I say barely about a whisper. "Even if your friendship…" I pause momentarily, trying my best not to fall apart again. "If your friendship is the only thing that I ever get to have again, then that wo—"

Before I can finish the speech that I had rehearsed so many times for this exact occasion, my words are cut short as I feel something that I haven't felt in 6 years… the warmth of Brittany's lips on mine. I'm feeling so many things right now and none of them seem real. I remain frozen in place with my eyes closed until I feel Brittany's hands on my face, pulling me closer. I timidly reciprocate as my hands clutch the fabric of her shirt. Brittany must've sensed that something was off because she immediately stopped moving her lips and detached them from mine.

"San, what's wrong?" Brittany asks cautiously. I say nothing. "Santana… look at me."

"I can't…" I stutter out. "As much as I want to, I just can't."

"Why not?" Brittany replies, sadness apparent in her voice. "I… I thought this is what you wanted?"

"I do…" I respond, closing my eyes even tighter. "I'm just…" I trail off, unsure if I'll be able to actually get this out.

"San, you can tell me anything… you know that," the beautiful blonde says reassuringly. "What are you so afraid of?"

"I'm scared that if I open my eyes… you won't really be here," I finally say while my voice breaks. "I'm afraid that when I open my eyes, this will all just be a fucked up dream and I'll still be all alone… living without you."

I pause to take a deep breath. My entire body is shivering now. I feel so exposed and vulnerable that I can't stop shaking.

"Every day for the past 6 years, I've had to learn how to live without you," I continue. "And then a month ago, you magically walk back into my life. All of this just seems too good to be true. I can't lose you again, Britt… I just can't."

Brittany then takes the pads of her thumbs and wipes away the silent tears that had fallen down my cheek. She then connects our lips again in a short, chaste kiss.

"Santana, did you feel that?" Brittany asks. I slowly nod my head. "Please open your eyes… I promise that I'll still be here, standing right in front of you."

I hesitantly open my eyes to see a blurry Brittany staring back at me. As I intake short, choppy breaths, Brittany caresses my cheek.

"Hi…" she whispers to me.

"Hi…" I reply back.

"Ya know, up until a month ago… I didn't remember who you were," Brittany states. As I start to look towards the ground, she holds my head in place to prevent me from looking away from her. "I hate that I couldn't remember you, but when I saw your beautiful face on that TV screen… I just knew."

Brittany pauses as a single tear starts to make its way down her face. I release my grip from her waist to catch it.

"I _knew_ that I was supposed to meet you again…" she continues. "Despite my fucked up memory... nothing in this world could keep me away from you," she says as another tear falls from her eyes. "I may not remember how I fell for you the first time, but I for damn sure know exactly how I felt when I saw you again…"

At this point, my eyes are starting to water again as I rest my forehead against hers. Brittany has always had this mysterious way of knowing just what to say to make me feel calm and at peace.

"I love you, Santana!" Brittany rushes out. "As crazy as that might sound since I've only gotten to know you again recently, I know h—"

This time, it's me that silences Brittany with my lips. As I wrap my arms around her back to deepen our kiss, for the first time in years… I feel alive! As Brittany begins to move her lips with mine, I feel myself being pushed back against the brick wall. She then grazes my lower lip with her tongue before gently biting it. I nearly lose my mind as a low moan leaves my mouth. Although it's been forever since I've held Brittany in my arms and kissed her like this, it feels like nothing has changed. It feels like 2 puzzle pieces finally finding their perfect fit again.

"Oh, _wow_…" Brittany says breathlessly as she gasps for air. "I don't know how I could _ever_ forget _that_ feeling…"

"Yeah… I know what you mean," I respond back, desperately trying to gather air into my lungs as well.

"Take me home…" Brittany says.

"Huh?" I reply, slightly confused and disoriented.

"Take me back to your place… _NOW!_" Brittany states more clearly, with authority. _Totally hot, by the way._

"_Oh, okay_…" I state, finally getting the meaning of her words.

As I untangle my arms from Brittany's body, I quickly grab her hand and intertwine our fingers as we walk towards the street to hail a taxi. I don't even bother to go back inside to tell my staff that I'm leaving. At this point, I don't really care. The only thing that matters right now is Brittany.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Guys… I am _so_ sorry for the delay! Long story short… I had about 75% of this chapter already written on my phone. When I went to pull it up to complete it, it was gone. I was _beyond_ pissed and had to start the whole thing over from scratch once I calmed down. Again, I am very sorry to keep you guys waiting, but I do appreciate all of the continued love and support that I have received from you guys (not only with the story, but in reference to my personal life too). You guys are amazing! Hope you enjoy!

-K

**Songs Used:**

_**Gravity**_ by **Sara Bareilles**

_**Free Your Mind **_by **En Vogue**

_**Stay**_ by **Rihanna ft. Mikky Ekko**

_**The Story**_ by **Brandi Carlile**

**Disclaimer:**

Yep… I still **DON'T** own anything.


	10. God Gave Me You

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 10: God Gave Me You**

As soon as my apartment door is shut, my back is immediately pushed into it as Brittany re-attaches her lips to mine. Although I only live about 10 minutes away from the restaurant, that was by far the longest taxi ride ever! Now that the Band-Aid of trying to figure out what the other person is thinking has been ripped off, it made it that much more difficult to keep our hands off of each other. I can't believe that I almost forgot how addictive Brittany's touches and kisses can be.

"You have a... really... nice... place..." Brittany states in between kisses, "... from what... I can... tell..."

"Thanks..." I weakly respond. At this point, it is very difficult for me to construct a coherent thought when Brittany's hands are all over me.

"Where's your... bedroom?" Brittany asks breathlessly. All I can do is point in the general direction that she's referring to.

As I slowly push myself away from the front door, I very carefully guide us towards my bedroom, not even daring to break our kiss. Once Brittany's legs hit the base of my bed, I slowly lower her onto it. As I move my hands up and down Brittany's sides, I pause momentarily before carrying out my next train of thought.

"Is this okay?" I ask as I gently tug at the bottom of her shirt, silently asking for permission to remove it.

"Yeah..." she breathes out in a sexy and dangerously low tone.

As I begin to remove the offending article of clothing, my movements halt due to Brittany's hand on mine.

"Could you turn off the light, please?" the blonde asks.

"Would you mind if I left it on?" I politely respond. "I wanna see you Britt..."

Suddenly, I feel Brittany's body tense up below me. I'm a little confused because the light in question is just a small table lamp, which only emits a tiny source of light to begin with. The main function of leaving it on is so that I don't accidentally run into something when I get home late from work.

"Britt, are you okay..." I ask, cautiously. "Did I do something wrong?"

I hear Brittany taking in jagged breaths as she looks away from me.

"Britt, please talk to me," I plead as I roll off of her and sit up. "I didn't mean to rush you..."

"No!" Brittany quickly says, shooting up from her laying position. "I want this, San. I just..."

My blonde beauty seems to be struggling with whatever it is she's trying to tell me.

"Hey Britt, look at me..." I say softly as I grab one of her hands and gently brush her hair with my other. "What's going on in that pretty little head of yours?"

"It's just that... I haven't really been intimate with anyone in a long time," Brittany begins.

"Honestly... I haven't either," I reply with a small smile.

Feeling a bit of relief, Brittany's body finally relaxes as she places her head on my lap. I continue to lightly stroke her hair.

"After the accident, it took a while for me to recover and get back to the point where I was comfortable enough to have a social life," she continues. "A few years ago, I was dating this guy..."

"_Oh_..." I say barely above a whisper as I stare out into the room.

I know that Britt and I were free to date whoever we wanted during our time apart, but actually hearing about someone else touching her and getting to be with her made me feel weird and upset. I guess Brittany must've noticed my change in mood.

"Hey..." Brittany says as she caresses my cheek. "Before you start doing that adorable pout of yours, let me finish... okay?"

I smile at her use of words while slowly nodding my head for her to continue.

"So one night, things started getting a little more serious between me and this guy," she picks back up. "But the thing is... once he started touching me and taking off my clothes, I just freaked out..."

Brittany pauses for a moment, almost as if she's re-living that particular memory.

"For the longest time, I thought it was because I wasn't ready or cuz I just didn't want anyone else to see all of the hideous scars on my body..." my blonde continues.

I can hear the sadness in her voice. It hurts me to know that Brittany doesn't view her body as the beautiful temple that I once had the pleasure of knowing. I then take the hand she was stroking my face with and interlace our fingers together. This seems to calm her a little bit.

"So, what do you think now?" I inquire.

"Somewhere deep inside, I just knew that being with him wouldn't have been right..." Brittany states. "Subconsciously, I think my body was telling me that _he_ didn't deserve to see or know my body in that way. I think deep down, my heart knew that right always belonged to you..."

I smile as I lean down and place a chaste kiss on Brittany's lips.

"I wanna do this, San... I've just been a little self-conscious about my body since the accident," she says.

"You shouldn't be though, Britt..." I state sincerely. "You're beautiful... nothing could ever change that."

Brittany leans up and steals a kiss from me. Given the current circumstances, I can't help but be eerily reminded of the first time I told Brittany that I loved her and we subsequently lost our virginities to each other.

"Okay…" Brittany simply states.

"Okay, what?" I ask, slightly confused.

"You can leave the light on..." she trails off as she captures my lips again.

* * *

The force of Brittany's actions knocks me down so that my back is now flat on the bed. As she straddles my hips, she takes the bottom of her shirt in her hands and lifts it up and over her head. My eyes immediately go wide at the sight of a topless Brittany. I try not to gawk at her too much as I scan her body.

As I come across the scars that she was so desperate to hide, I sit up on my elbows to get a better view of them. I then lightly trace each and every one of her scars with my fingers.

_**Come up to meet you, tell you "I'm sorry"**_

"I can't even begin to imagine the pain you suffered through," I say softly as I continue my journey up and down the right side of her body.

_**You don't know how lovely you are**_

"I wish I could've been there... I should've been there," I continue as I close my eyes. I feel the tears building up as flashes of that night pop into my head.

_**I had to find you, tell you I need you  
**_

"If I could, I'd make it so that you never felt an ounce of pain ever again," I state as I lean up further to rest my lips against her ribcage. I slowly place feather-light kisses over Brittany's scarred skin that had been ignored for years.

_**Tell you I'll set you apart**_

As I continue my mission to kiss every piece of skin on Brittany's body, I hear a small whimper above me. Brittany then grabs my face with both of her hands and brings our lips together in a searing kiss. As our kiss becomes more passionate, tongues battling for dominance, Brittany reaches down and grabs the bottom of my shirt to remove it.

_**Tell me your secrets and ask me your questions  
**_

"As long as you're here now…" she says in between ragged breaths, "that's all that matters."

_**Oh, let's go back to the start**_

There's so much love behind Brittany's words. If my eyes weren't already watery, I probably would be crying. I briefly open up my eyes so that I can look into Brittany's, but she seems to be focused on something else. Brittany then reaches down and takes the ring hanging from my necklace into the palm of her hand.

"This panda ring… I gave it to you, right?" Brittany half questions, half states. I slightly nod my head. "It was after our first date… I remember Quinn telling me about it. I gave it to you after you gave me this…" she says as she lifts up her right wrist, showing off the unicorn/anchor bracelet I had given her so long ago. I hadn't noticed earlier that she was wearing it… my mind was kinda occupied elsewhere.

_**Running in circles, coming up tails  
**_

"Where did you get that from?" I inquire, surprised to see the bracelet again.

I know that Brittany had been wearing it the night of the accident cuz she never took it off after I put it on her after our first date. I had no idea where it had gone after that because she didn't have it with her at the hospital.

"I got it from the officer that worked the accident," Brittany states simply. "He's a lieutenant now… and a really nice guy. Anyways, I can't believe you still have that ring."

_**Heads on a science apart**_

_Of course I kept the ring_… it was the only thing of Brittany's that I could bear to take with me once I left New York. As I smile while bringing our lips back together, I think Brittany gets the message I'm trying to convey. I then gently flip us over so that I am on top of her now. As I feel the sensation of our bare stomachs and bra-covered breasts colliding, I can't help but think of how much I've missed her touch and how lonely I've been without it.

_**Nobody said it was easy**_

"No matter how many years we've been apart, I could never allow someone else to touch me the way you did… not even on my drunkest nights," I say, slightly chuckling at my own words. It was true though… even at my lowest point of depression in Brittany's absence, I was unaffected by the mass amount of women throwing themselves at me.

"Really?" Brittany questions. I nod my head.

"Yeah, you kinda ruined me for anyone else," I reply honestly. "Once you've had the best… everyone else just fails in comparison," I continue. "Seriously Britt, when it comes to you… there's no competition."

_**It's such a shame for us to part**_

As tears begin to fall down Brittany's cheeks, I gently wipe them away while a small smile forms on my face. I've been wanting and waiting to tell Brittany all of these things for so long. Even in my wildest dreams, I never thought that I would get the opportunity to hold her in my arms again. Although I don't know what will happen between us after tonight, I'm finally hopeful that everything will work itself out.

"I love you so much, San…" Brittany says sincerely. "I don't know how I survived these past 6 years without you."

A big smile plasters itself onto my face as I capture my beautiful blonde's lips again for several seconds. I then go back to my mission of appreciating every inch of her body as I place kisses from her neck, to her chest, and all the way down to her waist line. As I make my way back up, I look into those beautiful blue eyes that I'll never get tired of.

_**Nobody said it was easy**_

"Britt, do you trust me?" I ask her.

"With all my heart," she quickly replies after trying to regulate her breath.

"Let me make you feel good…" I start off. "Let me show you how much I love you… how much I've missed you."

Brittany reaches up and places a delicate kiss on my lips while intertwining our fingers together.

"Okay…" she whispers back.

_**No one ever said it would be this hard**_

Brittany then guides our connected hands down her stomach until we reach the zipper of her jeans. As I look back into her eyes one last time, she lightly nods her head for me to continue. She doesn't need to say anything more. Although I feel slightly nervous like I did on our very first time, I'm also excited and overjoyed to share another _somewhat_ first with the love of my life.

As I close my eyes to relish this special moment in time, I can't help but feel like I'm finally _home_. After being lost for so many years, I finally found my way back to the only thing that's ever made sense to me… I finally found my way back to Brittany.

_**Oh, take me back to the start**_

* * *

As I wake up the next morning, I can't stop the smile that's creeping on my face. Last night was amazing! And guess what… no nightmares!

After being away from Brittany for so long, being able to finally hold her in my arms again was like nothing I could've ever imagined. My whole intent last night was about making her feel good... making her feel _wanted_. Based on her own words, I can only assume that seeing those scars on her body every day made her feel unpretty and fearful of getting too close to someone. Being with her last night, I was perfectly content on making love to her and then falling asleep with her in my arms. Brittany, however, had other plans for me afterwards. Needless to say... I didn't mind.

As I roll over on my side and bask in the aroma of coconuts on my sheets, my eyes instantly shoot open once I realize that my blonde beauty isn't next to me.

"Brittany?" I say aloud as I sit up in bed.

As I take a quick scan around the room, I notice that the clothes I had been wearing last night that were thrown all around the room are now neatly folded and sitting on top of my desk. I then get out of bed and make my way towards the desk where I find a laptop that isn't mine. I'm guessing the laptop belongs to Brittany cuz there's a post-it addressed to me attached to it.

_San,_

_I know you're probably on the verge of freaking out right now cuz I'm not there, but don't worry... I'll be back. In the meantime, if you open my computer, there is something that I want you to see. Just click on the folder that says_ _**Santana**__ and watch the videos in order._

_Love,_  
_Brittany :)  
_

My eyebrow arches up as I wonder what it is that Brittany has in store for me. As I open up the folder and click on the first video to view, I'm delighted to see a young Brittany in her bedroom, bouncing up and down on her bed, looking just as happy as can be. It reminds me of the Brittany I met so many years ago, so full of life and joy.

_Hi! _

_My name is Brittany S. Pierce! I've never done this video blogging thing before, but I figured I'd give it a try. Before we get into any deep conversations, here are some things that you should know about me…_

_I am currently 14 years old, I have a cat named Lord Tubbington, I have a younger sister named Lindsay, and tomorrow will be my very first day of high school. I'm kinda nervous about it, but I'm also excited cuz I really want to make the cheerleading squad. It's not so much for the cheering, but more or less for the dancing. Which brings me to the purpose of this video._

_These are __**"The Things That I Know"**__. I __**LOVE**__ dancing! I've been dancing since I was able to walk. It's the thing that I'm best at and what really makes me happy. When I dance, it's the only time that I ever really feel special… it's the only thing that makes me feel unique. I'm not the brightest kid, but one thing that I definitely know for sure… dancing will play a major role in my life._

_Anyways, until the next installment… this is Brittany S. Pierce signing off!_

As much as I love seeing a piece of Brittany before I knew her, it upset me to know that even back then, she felt like dancing was the only thing that she was good at or that made her feel special. Brittany is great at so many things… I just wish that she would realize that for herself.

I then click on the next video.

_Hello again! Welcome to another edition of __**"The Things That I Know".**_

_Today is September 1, 2003. I just got home from cheerleading practice and I know that I'm all sweaty and disgusting right now, but I just couldn't wait. Today was the first day of Junior year and probably one of the best days of my life. Today, I met the most amazing girl! Her name is Santana and she is just __**drop dead gorgeous!**__ She just moved here and accidentally ran into me this morning while on the way to Mr. Martinez's class. I was so happy that she did though cuz I got to talk to her before any of the boys with their crazy hormones got a chance to overcrowd her. She's so sweet and nice and I just know that we're gonna be besties. I just hope that I don't scare her away with my 24/7 cheerfulness or my weirdness in general. Anyways, I gotta go shower cuz Santana is coming over in a little while for dinner and I wanna be fresh and clean. I've never met anyone like her before. I just hope that she doesn't stop liking me cuz I already know (even though we just met) that I couldn't stop liking her if I tried._

_Till next time._

I love hearing what was going through Britt's head the first time we met. I was so nervous at our initial meeting that I almost peed my pants. I had never met someone so beautiful and charming in my life. Before Brittany, I never dated anyone, mostly because that would require me to actually talk to someone. I knew that I was more attracted to girls than boys, but it's not something that I ever acted on, mainly because there was no one that I was remotely interested in. All that changed when I met her though. Even though I had these crazy strong feelings for Brittany during our first encounter, I never expected her to feel to the same way. I'm glad she did though.

As I view some more of the videos, I have a good laugh over the ones that include our first gig as a band, going to our first prom, and moving to New York together. Then came the one with our first kiss…

_So…_

_I know it's like 5 in the morning, but I just had to get this out… Santana and I __**totally**__ made out! _

_We were just sitting on the couch talking about our first week of college when it just happened. I was feeling so down about myself and questioning whether or not I'd be able to keep up with all of the amazing dancers at Julliard when San was there to snap me out of it. She was so sweet and caring while trying to make me feel better. And then… she kissed me! You don't know how many times I've dreamt about feeling her luscious, plump lips against mine. After 2 __**long**__ ass years, it finally happened… and it was Heavenly._

_I don't know exactly what this means for our friendship, but one thing I do know for sure… I could kiss those lips forever!_

I know there must be a huge smile plastered on my face because that is exactly how I felt the first time our lips met.

* * *

As I scroll down to the next video, my heart stops when I see the date it was recorded. It's a date that I could never forget. As I click on the icon to view the video, I start to feel a bit nervous to see Brittany's take on the night we lost our virginities to each other. As the video starts, Brittany is sitting at the desk in my room. She's wearing nothing but my NYU hoodie and I'm pretty sure the big lump in the bed is me… sleeping. Her eyes are closed for the first few seconds of the video, almost as if she's trying to form words to describe the goofy grin on her face.

_I... I really don't even know what to say right now._

Brittany lightly chuckles to herself as she shakes her head and her smile gets even bigger. Finally, she opens her eyes and looks directly into the camera.

_I started recording this video because __**so**__ many things happened within in the last few hours… things that have changed my life forever. First off… Santana told me she loved me! But it wasn't just that… the way she described falling for me from the moment we met was just incredible. I love seeing that vulnerable side to her because I know it's reserved just for me. It truly is something beautiful to witness… she's beautiful._

I pause the video briefly to wipe away the wetness that was starting to form in my eyes, not wanting to miss a second of what my love has to say. I then resume the video feed.

_When she first said those words, I was totally caught off guard. We were just lying on the couch together, watching a movie, and then BAM… my girlfriend completely surprises me with the most wonderful words I could ever hope to hear from her. After she said it, it took me a minute to process everything. I think a part of me was still in shock because those 3 small words have been something that I've been hoping that she felt. To be honest, the moment she crashed into me on that fateful day… I fell too._

_And if that wasn't enough, after that, Santana and I made love to each for the first time. I was so nervous and probably awkward and clumsy as hell, but in the end… it was perfect. I think back to the time in high school when I was at a party and almost had sex with one of the guys from the football team. I didn't know the guy that well and the only reason I even considered it was just to get it over with and say that I had officially "did it" with someone. However, something stopped me that night… forces way beyond my control. I think deep down somewhere I knew that if I was patient and saved myself, then the right person would come along and I could share that part of me with them._

_I guess I was right because 2 weeks later… an angel bumped into me and stole my heart._

* * *

After my heart calms down from almost beating out of my chest, I check and see that there's only one video remaining. What's odd is that the date listed on it is from today.

_Good morning, Beautiful!_

_If you're watching this video, then it means that I'm not currently next to you. Don't worry, I'll be back soon, but I had to get all of this out and I knew if I tried to do it in person… I'd be blubbering like a little school girl. Anyways, I found these videos last week and thought you might like to see them as well. My past self really gave me some good insight on our blossoming relationship and how deeply I felt about you. It's one thing to hear it from our friends and family, but to actually hear it coming from my own lips… indescribable._

_I've done a lot of thinking this past week and every week before that since you've come back into my life. I've also learned a lot of things about myself that have made me a much stronger person than I was a month ago. I thank you for that. With that being said, here's what I know... _

_I want to be with you, Santana! I don't care what it takes or where we live… I just need to be with you. Although I can't remember all of those special moments that truly defined our relationship back then, I can definitely relate to them. After watching all of those videos I made so long ago, one thing is for sure… all of those feelings and emotions I experienced then are the exact same ones that I'm feeling right now. 6 years apart and a fucked up memory aren't enough to keep me from loving you and eventually finding my way back to you. My parents and whoever else that tries to get in the way of us being together can suck a big one!_

_Whatever I have to do, I'll do it. You are my future. You are my soulmate. You are the love of my life. I love you, Santana… that will never change. See you soon!_

As the video ends and I wipe the remaining tears away from my face, I feel Brittany's arms wrap around me from behind.

"Hey you…" Brittany whispers into my ear. I turn my head to seize her lips with the most passionate kiss that I can muster.

"Hi…" I whisper back as our lips detach.

"I see you watched my videos," she shyly states.

"Yeah… I did," I respond. What I had failed to realize before was that Brittany had been back for quite some time, but I was too enthralled in the videos to notice. "Thank you, Brittany."

"For what?" Brittany questions.

"For being strong when I was terrified," I state honestly. She smiles at me as she places a delicate kiss to my lips. "I just want you to know that I _heard_ everything you said. I want all of that too… I want to be with you!"

"Good… that will make the errands I was running worth it," she replies.

"What do you mean exactly?" I ponder.

"I sold my dance studio…" Brittany casually states.

"You did what?!" I say in shock. "Why? Britt, you love dancing… it's practically your life."

"True… but something better came up," she responds simply.

As I knit my eyebrows together, trying to figure out what is going on, it finally hits me.

"_Oh…_" I say back, finally understanding her words.

"For the longest time, dancing was always everything to me. Dancing _was_ the only thing that ever made me feel special... until I met you," Brittany begins. "Now, I may not remember our very first meeting back in high school, but I remember exactly how I felt over a month ago when I saw your face on TV. Even without having a clue on who you really were at the time... I _knew_ my life would never be the same."

As I try to quickly process everything that Brittany is saying, I am just befuddled beyond belief that she would make this grand gesture just to be with me.

"I sold my studio because I'm moving here..." Brittany continues. "I know a few people so finding a job out here won't be difficult. Plus, Lindsay will probably end up going to UCLA so-"

"Move in with me!" I blurt out, maybe a little louder than I had intended to.

"Huh?" Brittany says with a confused look on her face.

"Move in with me," I say a little less frantic.

"Are you serious?" Brittany questions.

"Of course," I say while grabbing both of her hands and linking our fingers together. "I've already spent the last 6 years without you... do you really think I'm gonna let you out of my sight again for one second?"

Brittany appears to be mulling over her options before she cracks a smile and attaches her lips to mine.

"Nothing would make me happier than waking up next to you every day," she says sincerely. I smile and give her a quick peck in return.

"I can't wait for that either," I reply. "Besides... rent here is a killer so it will be nice to have someone to split the bills with," I say with the most serious expression I can muster.

"Santana!" Brittany says as she playfully slaps my arm. My trademark smirk appears just in time to wipe away the look of shock on her face. "You're really okay with this?" she says a bit more seriously.

"There's nothing I want more," I instantly respond.

"Okay, it's settled then!" Brittany states excitedly while clapping her hands together. "Oh, I meant to ask you earlier… where you supposed to be going somewhere? I saw the bag by the door."

"I was supposed to last night, but I missed my flight," I reply nonchalantly.

"_Oh_, I'm sorry…" Brittany says, less chipper than previously. "Where were you going?"

"To see you," I simply state. Suddenly Brittany becomes all bashful as she ducks her head and her cheeks start to turn red. It's the most adorable thing I've ever seen. "Speaking of trips… where'd you go so early this morning?"

"I had things back home that I had to take care of. Plus, I went to the grocery store so that I could make you breakfast," Brittany states. My heart swoons at her attentiveness. "Ya know, for someone who's a professional chef… your refrigerator sure is empty."

"I'm barely here most of the time so I usually don't keep it fully stocked," I reply. "Honestly, I've never really had a reason to spend more time here than necessary… until now."

"But this is your home… you _should_ spend more time here," Brittany retorts.

"This place has never felt like a _home_ to me… it's just a place where I sleep and receive mail at," I respond.

"Why is that?" Brittany asks inquisitively.

"Because _you_ are my home, Brittany… you always have been," I sincerely state, "everything else is just a room with 4 walls."

For a minute, Brittany doesn't say anything. At first, I wasn't sure if what I had said had been a little too much or maybe not enough. Honestly, I had no idea what was going on in that pretty little blonde head of hers. Before I can question it though, I feel the sensation of Brittany's mouth against mine as we get caught up in a heated kiss.

As we make it back over to the bed, I suddenly realize that I am _very_ much naked under this blanket while Brittany remains fully clothed.

"No fair…" I playfully pout, picking at the fabric of her shirt.

Brittany smiles and begins taking off the clothing that she was wearing. As she lowers me onto the bed and lies on top of me, she looks deep into my mocha eyes.

"We have _a lot_ of lost time to make up for," she states. I nod my head.

"I guess that means we shouldn't waste this opportunity," I reply.

"I agree," Brittany says back. "Does that mean I'm your girlfriend again?"

It seemed like a silly question to ask, but I think Brittany really just needed to hear the words to make herself believe that all of this _is_ really happening.

"Without a doubt," I simply state. "You know… _technically_, we never broke up to begin with…"

"That _is_ true," Brittany giggles back.

As our lips meet again, I can't help but feel like that 16 year old girl again when I first met Brittany.

"I love you, Brittany!" I say with all of the possible passion inside of me.

"I love you, Santana!" she immediately responds before claiming my lips again.

After all these years, Brittany and I are finally back together. I'm finally home.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Hey guys! Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long. Here's the next installment (which I will check for mistakes later). I hope you all enjoy and thanks again for all of the love! On a side and slightly sad note, there's probably only 1 or 2 more chapters left with this story . Hopefully you all can find solace in some of the other stories I have posted and the new ones that I have yet to write. Thanks again!

-Kris :)

**Songs Used:**

_**The Scientist**_ by **Coldplay**

**Disclaimer:** I own **NOTHING!**


	11. A Moment Like This

**Recipe for Disaster**

**Chapter 11: A Moment Like This**

_Moments._

There are certain moments in our lives that truly define the people that we are… the people we become. Since that very first moment when I saw Santana on that TV screen, I knew that my life would be different. At the time, I didn't know how _drastically_ everything would change for me, but the moment our eyes locked inside of her restaurant… I knew.

Since then, I've been experiencing all sorts of emotions with every new moment that includes her. Most of them have been happy, like the first time we hugged, kissed, made love…. Others, however, have been sad and tragic, like learning about the accident and the role my parents played in keeping us apart. Thankfully, the love that I once had for Santana was still buried deep inside of me and allowed me to find my way back to her. After all that we have been through, if possible, I think I love her even more now.

* * *

After Santana and I spent the rest of the day _re-acquainting_ ourselves, we fell asleep in each other's arms. It truly is one of the best feelings in the world. The next morning when I awoke, I felt a cool breeze cascade over my body from the lack of warmth provided by Santana's missing body. I didn't panic though, knowing that she wasn't too far away from the aromatic smell of bacon that was wafting through the air.

As I sat up in _our_ bed, I grabbed my phone to check the time. As I scrolled through my new emails, I was surprised to see several Facebook notifications. As I glanced over a few of the snippets from the vast amount of comments my friends had left me, the majority of them were pretty basic, saying _"Congrats!"_ and _"It's about damn time!"_ Having no idea on what I was being congratulated on, I grabbed my computer from the desk and opened it, intending on going directly to my Facebook profile. To my surprise, it was already opened to that page.

As I read over the new story that had been posted on my timeline, I felt my eyes start to water from the happiness inside of me just bursting to escape:

_**Santana Lopez is in a relationship with Brittany Pierce!**_

Underneath the headline of the new story was a picture of me and Santana that I didn't recognize. We both looked a little younger so I imagine that it was from our college days, before everything went to hell in a hand basket. In the picture, me and San are just looking at each other with smiles on our faces, while holding hands. It may have looked like just a simple picture, but it conveyed so much love. Attached to that was a caption that read, _"After all these years, my world is finally complete again… I love you, Brittany!" _

At least now, all of those comments that people were posting made sense.

As I grabbed a shirt and some underwear to put on, I made my way into the kitchen, where I immediately spotted my beautiful girlfriend. I then snuck up behind her and snaked my arms around her waist.

"Morning babe," I whisper in her ear as I nuzzled her neck.

"Mmm, hey baby," she replies as she leans back into my embrace. "How'd you sleep?"

"Wonderfully!" I say with a big smile plastered on my face. "How bout you?"

"Same," she responds as she turns around in my arms. Santana then places a chaste kiss to my lips. "Why don't you have a seat? Breakfast is ready."

I give her a peck on the lips and take a seat at the table. As Santana hands me a plate filled with mouth-watering food, I take a moment to just appreciate where I currently am and how happy this woman has made me.

"So… I see you made a Facebook page," I state casually. Santana blushes as she looks down at the table. She is so adorable.

"I actually just re-activated my old one," Santana states. "I hope you don't mind the _slight_ changes I made to your profile…"

I smile at how timid Santana is being, thinking that I could actually be upset with her for going onto my Facebook page.

"Not at all…" I state sincerely as I lean over the table to connect my lips with hers. "It was a nice surprise to wake up to."

"Good… I'm glad," she responds, relief washing over her face. Finally, she smiles again and leans in to close the gap between our lips.

* * *

As Santana and I enjoyed our breakfast, we caught up on all of the things we had missed, not being in contact with each other for the past few weeks. I told her about the falling out I had with my parents and the ring that I had found with the belongings that Quinn had given me. Santana seemed shocked by this revelation, which rendered her speechless for a few seconds. I assured her that she had nothing to worry about and that I would've most definitely said yes to her proposal, had it not been for the life-altering accident. I also told her about my _"Depression for Dummies"_ playlist that Lindsay so aptly named. Santana got a kick out of that one. I then told her how Lindsay showed me that first video of her singing and how she managed to light the fire underneath my ass so that I would finally end this silence between us. This made Santana smile.

Santana then told me about the fear and anxiety she was experiencing. She told me about my mom's surprise visit on Mother's Day and how apparently her mom slapped her. I'm usually not one for violence, but the way Santana re-told the story sounded pretty freaking hilarious. Anyways, Santana told me everything that my mother had told her and how she wouldn't stand in the way if we got back together. I guess after our falling out, she went out on a limb to finally make things right. After that, San told me about how her mother convinced her to finally sing again. Although she was starting to feel confident again, the nightmares that she started having after that counteracted the courage she had built up to come see me.

In the end, all was forgiven because things between us were good. Even though us finally getting together took a little longer because of all of these distractions and roadblocks, we eventually landed back in each other's arms.

* * *

In the days following, Santana and I traveled back to Lima to pack up the rest of my belongings and ship them to California. Lindsay was a big help and it was nice to see her and Santana interact. Once my things arrived in LA, Puck and company were nice enough to begin the unpacking process while me and San were in Lima. While in town, I showed Santana my dance studio and let her meet some of my students that I would be leaving behind. All of my students were sad to hear of my departure, but were adamantly curious to meet the woman who had _"stolen"_ me away from them. However, once they all met Santana, they all could see how easy it was to fall in love with her. Seriously, I had to tell some of my male students to back off cuz they were trying to get all up in Santana's Kool-Aid. I just simply gave them the evil eye and told them _"she's not for you!"_ I may have also implied that I would give them a swift chop to the neck if they got any closer to her, but that's neither here nor there.

After saying goodbye to my students, Santana and I went to visit her father. I wasn't sure how their interaction amongst each other would be since it had been years since they last saw each other. I opted to stay behind so that they could have their privacy, but Santana wouldn't allow it. I know it was very difficult for her, seeing him again, especially after her parents split. Just from the brief talks that we've had about her father, I know that there's a part of her that still blames him for her mother leaving. Although she was an adult when her parents divorced, I can't imagine feeling like the reason why your family is broken is because your own father picked his career over his wife. For me, it's like what I told Santana before… I love dancing, but I can do that anywhere. In my book, being able to _see_ and _hold_ the woman of my dreams in my arms every day and night wins every time.

After the initial awkwardness wore off, the 3 of us enjoyed a nice dinner at our favorite restaurant… Breadstix! It was nice seeing Santana and her father being able to catch up, although their separation could've been avoided if her father wasn't such a workaholic. Nevertheless, I was happy to be present and hear stories about Santana when she was a little girl. I don't think Santana cared for the stories as much, due to her flushed cheeks from being embarrassed. Again, I found this side of Santana simply adorable. I also got to talk to Mr. Lopez one-on-one for a little bit when San excused herself to go to the restroom. Mr. Lopez told me that the day we met Junior year, he had never seen a bigger smile on his daughter's face. He also said that seeing us now, together again, made him happy, yet envious of the connection that we had because he was foolish enough to let her mother go.

As dinner ended, Mr. Lopez gave me a big hug and said that he hoped to see me soon. As I walked a little ahead of them so that they could have a moment to say their goodbyes, I overheard a fraction of their conversation.

"It was so good to see you, Santanita!" Mr. Lopez stated as he warmly embraced his daughter. As they pulled apart, his hands firmly gripped her shoulders. "I know that I'm an idiot for not fighting for your mother, but please… don't be like me," he paused momentarily. "Don't you _ever_ let that girl go… she really does bring out the best in you."

"You don't have to worry about that papi. I'll never let her go," Santana responds while glancing at me, "… she's the best thing that's ever happened to me!"

* * *

Before we ended our mini vacation in Lima, there was one last stop we had to make… my parents' house. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to say to them since it had been a while since I last talked to them. However, I guess after hearing that my mother tried to make amends with Santana after her poor choice of judgment, I felt that there may be hope at a possible reconciliation. Plus, now that Santana and I were officially back together, I figured my parents should know so that they could start getting used to the fact that she wasn't going anywhere… _ever_.

As we arrived at my childhood home, I hesitated before knocking on the door.

"Hey… you okay?" Santana asks me while tugging on my shirt.

"Yeah, just a little nervous," I reply, linking our fingers together.

"Everything will be fine," she says reassuringly while giving me a quick peck on my lips. I smile in return and finally find the strength to knock on the door.

Lindsay answers the door and leads us towards the kitchen where my parents are. As we get closer, I see Santana taking in her surroundings in complete awe.

"Wow… it's almost exactly how I remember it," Santana breathes out.

"Lopez, I need you to focus," I teasingly whisper into her ear.

"Sorry babe… I'm ready now," she replies, getting her focus back in check.

As we greet my parents and awkwardly sit across from them at the table, I begin our conversation, re-capping the past events and the information I had gathered from Santana from my mom's surprise visit to her.

"Like I told Santana, I know that your father and I can't even begin to make up for our poor decisions, but we would really like to try," my mother states. "We really want to be a part of your life Brittany… yours too, Santana."

Santana and I both remain silent, our hands never leaving each other.

"I'm sorry that by being silent, I allowed for things to get this out of control," my father finally speaks up. "I know that you both probably blame Susan for all that's happened, but I'm just as guilty. We really hope that you can find it in your hearts to forgive us and possibly give us the opportunity to be the supporting parents that we should've been back then," he says sincerely.

"I don't know exactly how Brittany is feeling in all of this, but I'd be willing to try," Santana starts off. "Don't misunderstand me… I am still very angry and upset about the pain you caused to me and Britt, but I'm not totally against giving you a second chance," she continues sternly, but calm. "Eventually, Brittany and I will be married and start a family of our own. I don't want our kids to miss out on spending time with their grandparents because they acted like idiots in the past."

I slowly turn my head to look over at Santana. Hearing her talk about our future like that, especially in front of my parents, made my heart swoon. I already knew that I had made the right decision by selling my studio and moving to LA to be with her, but hearing those wonderful words come out of her mouth further solidified it.

"It won't be easy and it will definitely take some time before I can begin to trust that you won't try to come in between Britt and me again, but like I said… I'm willing to try," Santana finishes.

"I agree completely," I start off. "Mom, Dad… if you do _anything_ to try and come between us again, I'm done with you," I state firmly without a hint of sarcasm in my voice. "Are we clear?"

"Yes, we understand…" my mom says as she and my dad both nod their heads. "We were gonna head to the store to pick up a few items for dinner. I know you guys are heading out soon, but would you consider staying for dinner?" my mom asks cautiously.

I look at Santana and receive a slight nod from her.

"Okay, we'll stay."

After receiving their answer, my parents leave the house to head to the store.

"Is it wrong that the entire time you were speaking, all I could think about is dragging you into my old bedroom and christening it…" I whisper seductively into her ear while running my barefoot up and down her leg, "especially when you started talking about having kids and stuff."

I hear how shallow Santana's breathing has become and how she starts to fidget in her seat. I love having that effect on her.

"Yesss… those are v-very bad thoughts to h-have while your parents are in the same room," Santana shakily responds. "And sorry to burst your bubble, but we christened that room a long time ago," she says with a wink, her breathing evening out finally.

"Why are you ruining this for me?" I stated with my adorable pout.

"Babe, as much as I would love to drag you into your old bedroom and have my way with you, your sister is right in the other room," Santana reasons. "Would you settle for a hot and steamy make-out session for the time being?"

I then stroke my chin with my thumb and index finger, pretending to ponder over my options.

"Fine, you've worn me down Lopez…" I state while shaking my fist in the air. Santana laughs at my silliness. "Seriously though… did you mean what you said about getting married and stuff?"

"I meant every word," Santana replies before crashing her lips against mine.

As our lips move perfectly in sync, I swipe my tongue against her lower lip. Just as Santana begins to open her mouth to allow my tongue entrance, we are interrupted by a muffled cough.

"Get a room!" Lindsay snickers before running off into the other room. Santana and I just shake our heads.

"You sure you want to be related to that?" I playfully ask.

"Now that you've mentioned it…" Santana begins. I gasp at her insinuation. "Just kidding, babe…" she says with a wink.

* * *

Once Santana and I left Ohio, we headed up to New York for a few days to visit Quinn. It was awesome for the 3 of us to be back together again, just like old times (even though I didn't remember them). It was interesting to see how they interacted with each other, greeting each other by _"bitch"_ or _"slut"_ instead of just using each other's name. It was weird to watch at first, but eventually I grew use to it and had a good laugh about it. While in New York, Santana and I walked hand-in-hand in the park and fed the ducks. We also met up with Lt. Schuester and got to meet his wife and have lunch with them. It was a nice change of pace from our visit to Lima, seeing that we could relax here and enjoy each other's company. Once we left New York, we made a quick stop in Seattle to visit her mom for a couple of days. It was great to see her again, after all of these years. I can definitely tell where Santana gets her feistiness from.

After all of the pit stops were done, Santana and I finally returned to LA and to finish unpacking my belongings. Little by little, Santana's apartment became _our_ home.

* * *

_6 months later…_

After Santana had gone back to her regular schedule at work and I finally had a chance to settle into my new surroundings, it wasn't very difficult for me to find work. I started teaching again at a very popular dance studio not too far away from Santana's restaurant. It actually worked out pretty well cuz whenever I took my breaks, I could just walk to Maribel's and have lunch with my boo. It was great to get back into teaching, although I missed my students back in Lima dearly. The other instructors I worked with at the new studio were all pretty nice and very welcoming though, so that helped a little.

As each month passed, Santana and I continued to live in bliss, still trying to make up for the time we lost. As the end of the year approached us, we talked about moving out of her apartment and buying a house together. It seemed like the next logical step with the kids we were planning on having in the near future. Plus, with Lindsay being in her Senior year now and her eyes set on UCLA after graduation, we figured that she could stay with us instead of a stuffy dorm room.

At the beginning of September, I got an unexpected surprise. Mike, a fellow dancer and co-worker of mine, told me about this amazing gig that he had just landed. He told me that he had just been hired to be Justin Timberlake's head choreographer for "The 20/20 Experience" world tour. I was so excited for Mike cuz he had become a really great friend of mine since moving here. A part of me was a little jealous because this was the kind of dream job I had always hoped to land before the accident. As I congratulated Mike, he patted me on the back and told me not to look so sad because he wanted me to be his assistant choreographer for the tour. I couldn't believe it!

Later on that night, I told Santana about this amazing opportunity. Although I was super excited to be a part of this experience, the other part of me felt conflicted. At the time, Santana and I had only been back together for a few months. The thought of being away from her so soon and for an extended period of time made me not want to take Mike up on his offer. As I talked it over with San, she stated that she had the same feelings, but didn't want me to pass up on this awesome opportunity for her. I then re-iterated that I would do anything for her. In return, Santana kissed me and told me that I had already done enough and that she would still be here, waiting for me when I got back from the tour.

After I told Mike that I would be his assistant choreographer, we wasted no time hiring the appropriate amount of dancers needed. Then, after an intense 2 weeks of perfecting the steps and making sure that all of the dancers were moving to their correct positions, the tour began. The tour would last for 5 months, traveling through multiple cities and states. I was so excited to be on the road and experience this dream come true. It was also great getting to know Justin and his crew, although it didn't ease the pain of missing Santana. We talked every day through texts and Facetime. Still… nothing compared to having her right in front of me, nestled in my arms.

Once we reached December, the half-way point of the tour, we found ourselves at the Staples Center. I was so ecstatic to finally be back in LA, but more importantly… I couldn't wait to see Santana after being away for almost 3 months.

_Which leads me to now…_

* * *

_**Didn't have to run, I knew it was love from a mile away  
But I had to catch you, been running through my mind all day baby**_

As Justin's smooth voice echoes throughout the stadium, I catch Santana's eyes as she stands in the pit area, right next to the stage. I know what you're thinking… _those must've been some very expensive tickets!_ Yes… they are indeed. However, when your girlfriend works for the guy who is the main act of the concert, let's just say that I have some pull.

_**'Cause I'm in love with that girl  
So don't be mad at me**_

As I sing along to the words, directly aiming them at Santana, I see her body sway from side to side. All I wanna do is hop off stage and join her in the pit area, but unfortunately I'm working, so I can't.

_**So what you're from the other side of the tracks  
So what the world don't think we match  
I'll put it down like my love's on wax, guess what?**_

Being the assistant choreographer meant that I participated in a majority of the numbers, but not all of them. Ultimately, it was the perfect position for me, seeing that I'm not as strong nor do I have the same stamina I had prior to the accident. However, with Santana being front and center of the stage, staring at me, it made it that much more difficult to concentrate on anything else.

_**I'm in love with that girl  
And she told me, that she's in love with me**_

* * *

Once we reached the end of the song, I knew that this would be one of those moments that would change my life forever. As me and the other dancers quickly changed our wardrobes and took our positions on stage to prepare for the next routine. As the music begins to play, I take a deep breath and ready myself for the performance of a lifetime.

_**Aren't you somethin' to admire?  
'Cause your shine is somethin' like a mirror  
And I can't help but notice  
You reflect in this heart of mine**_

As I momentarily break my eye contact with Santana, I try my best not to stare at her again for too long. I don't want to mess up, especially not now.

_**'Cause with your hand in my hand and a pocket full of soul  
I can tell you there's no place we couldn't go  
Just put your hand on the glass  
I'll be tryin' to pull you through  
You just gotta be strong**_

Of course, I failed… there's just a part of me that _can't_ help but look at Santana whenever she's near me. It's a sickness really, but I don't mind.

_**'Cause I don't wanna lose you now  
I'm lookin' right at the other half of me  
The vacancy that sat in my heart  
Is a space that now you hold  
Show me how to fight for now  
And I'll tell you, baby, it was easy  
Comin' back here to you once I figured it out  
You were right here all along**_

As the chorus rolls around, I began mouth the words to Santana again. I know that if anyone in the audience was paying attention to me, they would be wondering what the hell I was doing. Luckily for me though, they are all entranced by Justin, which allows me to somewhat serenade my love.

_**It's like you're my mirror  
My mirror staring back at me  
I couldn't get any bigger  
With anyone else beside of me  
And now it's clear as this promise  
That we're making two reflections into one  
'Cause it's like you're my mirror  
My mirror staring back at me, staring back at me**_

I really hope that she gets the message that I'm trying to convey with the words Justin is singing. I remember when I first heard this song, I felt like he had written it especially for me and Santana. The fact that I actually got a chance to work with him and be on this stage right now was just a bonus.

After the second verse and chorus pass, I know that the time has come. As the regular dancers exit the stage, the kids from my studio back in Lima take their places and begin their choreography. I then walk towards the end of the stage and reach my hand out for Santana to take. She looks confused as hell, but I smile at her to reassure her. When that doesn't work, I look over at Justin and looks as well. Justin politely smiles and throws a wink her way while motioning for her to join us on stage. She with a look of utter confusion on her face, she hesitantly accepts my hand and allows me to pull her up on stage.

As the instrumental part of the song plays, I walk Santana over to the wooden stool set up at the center of the stage next to where Justin is standing. Once Santana sits down, Justin places a hands-free microphone on my head and begins singing again.

_**You are, you are the love of my life**_

"Santana… I could stand here for days and list all of the reasons why you make me happy, but I don't want to bore these people," I start off, taking her hands in mind. "It took me 6 years to find you again, but I'm glad I finally did because you make me happier than I ever imagined I could be."

I see tears starting to form in Santana's eyes as she looks all around, trying to figure out what's going on.

_**You are, you are the love of my life**_

"You are everything in this entire world that I could ever need," I continue. "You make me feel beautiful when I can't look at myself in the mirror. You make me feel safe and loved just by the way you hold me, letting me know that you won't let me go. You make me happy when everything else in life feels like it's going to hell. But most importantly… you make me complete. The last few years I spent without you, I was a mess. But then you came back into my life and now… I'm whole again," I say as I bend down on one knee.

_**You are, you are the love of my life**_

"Santana Maria Lopez… there isn't a thing that I would change about you. I love you with all of my heart and would gladly spend the rest of my life showing you just how much you mean to me," I continue." _So_, I guess what I'm trying to say here is… will you marry me?"

At this point in pivotal moment, it feels like time has completely stopped. Santana's are twice their normal size as they flash from my eyes to the ring that's in my hands. I know that taking into consideration that there are thousands of people in the room, all of this might seem a bit over-the-top and overwhelming, but I just felt that it wasn't an opportunity that I could pass up. I'm sure that hearing Justin repeat _"You are, you are the love of my life,"_ isn't helping any, but no pressure… right?

As Santana glances around the stadium again and then back at my former students that haven't skipped a beat in their choreography, she stands up from the stool and removes the microphone from my head. Re-adjusting the mic so that it's now in front of her mouth, she says one simple word:

**_YES!_**

As the crowd explodes, Santana drops the microphone and roughly attaches her lips to mine. I get lost for a minute and almost forget where I am until I start hearing Justin's voice again. Once I come out of the daze of Santana's lips being on mine, I quickly slip the engagement ring onto her finger and connect our lips in a passionate kiss.

"Congratulations Brittany and Santana!" Justin's voice bounces off of the walls.

As Santana and I break apart to smile at the crowd, we are engulfed by hugs from my former students. After all of the kids release their death grip on us, I link my hand with hers and walk backstage with my fiancé. Once we reach a quieter area off the stage, Santana finally speaks.

"You're just full of surprises, aren't you?"

"Well, I keep a few up my sleeve to keep things interesting," I say nonchalantly.

Santana then raises my left hand and inspects the silver band attached to it.

"You're wearing my ring…" she states with a bit of surprise.

"Yeah… I've been wearing it since I left for the tour," I respond. "Even though you never got the chance to _technically_ give it to me, I wanted to wear it to let people know that I am proudly taken."

A small smile graces Santana's lips before she places a delicate kiss on mine.

"I love you so much, Brittany Susan Pierce… I can't wait to marry you!" Santana says before capturing my lips with hers again.

It's moments like this that will forever be sketched into my brain. It's moments like this that truly take my breath away.

* * *

**Author's Note:**

Holy cow! Guys, I am so sorry about the long delay. Real life has been super busy as of late and really interfering with my FanFic time. I hope you enjoyed this chapter cuz it took a while to write, trying to sort through how I can stretch this story out for an extra chapter or two. In the meantime, I will start to work on the next installment of You and Me very soon (and possibly another one-shot or new multi-fic). Thanks again for all of your continued support and love.

As always, stay classy!

-Kris

**Songs Used:**

_**That Girl**_ by **Justin Timberlake**

_**Mirrors**_ by **Justin Timberlake**

_(Yeah… I love Justin! Don't judge me __)_

**Disclaimer:** I still **DON'T** own anything.


End file.
